The History of Medals

Category: Medals

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The History of Medals

<<< The world's most prestigious military medal, the Victoria Cross. 1,354 total awards including 96 to Australians or men serving in Australian units. Details

>>> The world's rarest military medal. Although it was originally planned that 12 would be awarded after Hitler won the war, in fact only one was ever awarded. It is called the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds. Details

United States Medal of Honor (often mis-called Congressional Medal of Honor)
The MoH is the highest award possible in the USA. There are three different types of Medals of Honor today as seen directly below left: the original simple star shape established in 1861 which the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard have retained; a wreath version designed in 1904 for the Army; and an altered wreath version for the Air Force, designed in 1963 and adopted in 1965. Details.
	The first award of the Medal of Honor was made March 25, 1863, to Private Jacob Parrott, and five others. Since then there have been: 3,459 Medals of Honor Awarded for 3,454 separate acts of heroism. Originally the Medal of Honor was only presented to the enlisted, but on March 3, 1863 this was extended to officers as well. On December 9, 1861 Iowa Senator James W. Grimes introduced S. No. 82 in the United States Senate, a bill designed to "promote the efficiency of the Navy" by authorizing the production and distribution of "medals of honor". On December 21st the bill was passed, authorizing 200 such medals be produced "which shall be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines as shall distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seamanlike qualities during the present war (Civil War)." President Lincoln signed the bill and the (Navy) Medal of Honor was born. Two months later on February 17, 1862 Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson introduced a similar bill, this one to authorize "the President to distribute medals to privates in the Army of the United States who shall distinguish themselves in battle." Over the following months wording changed slightly as the bill made its way through Congress. When President Abraham Lincoln signed S.J.R. No 82 into law as 12 Stat. 623-624 on July 14, 1862, the Army Medal of Honor was born. It read in part: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause two thousand "medals of honor" to be prepared with suitable emblematic devices, and to direct that the same be presented, in the name of the Congress, to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection (Civil War)." The 13 stars on the ribbons represent the original 13 States of the Union.
US ARMY MoH

US Navy MoH

US Air Force MoH

Webmasters note. It is my opinion that the value of the Medal of Honor was somewhat diminished by the fact that one stage that it could be awarded TWICE for the same action. Apparently this happened on 5 occasions. The loop hole that allowed it was closed after WW1 at the request of USMC. See below

Army Medal of Honor. Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 66th Company, 5th Regiment. Place and date: Near Villers-Cotterets, France, 18 July 1918. Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Born: 1 May 1888, Sebenes, Austria. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. (Also received Navy Medal of Honor.) Citation: When his company, advancing through a wood, met with strong resistance from an enemy strong point, Sgt. Cukela crawled out from the flank and made his way toward the German lines in the face of heavy fire, disregarding the warnings of his comrades. He succeeded in getting behind the enemy position and rushed a machinegun emplacement, killing or driving off the crew with his bayonet. With German hand grenades he then bombed out the remaining portion of the strong point, capturing 4 men and 2 damaged machineguns.

Navy Medal of Honor. Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 66th Company, 5th Regiment. Born: 1 May 1888, Sebenes, Austria. Accredited to: Minnesota. (Also received Army Medal of Honor.) Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, during action in the Forest de Retz, near Viller-Cottertes, France, 18 July 1918. Sgt. Cukela advanced alone against an enemy strong point that was holding up his line. Disregarding the warnings of his comrades, he crawled out from the flank in the face of heavy fire and worked his way to the rear of the enemy position. Rushing a machinegun emplacement, he killed or drove off the crew with his bayonet, bombed out the remaining part of the strong point with German hand grenades and captured 2 machineguns and 4 men.

Special entitlements for recipients of the Medal of Honor include:
- (1) Each Medal of Honor awardee may have his name entered on the Medal of Honor Roll (38 USC 560). Each person whose name is placed on the Medal of Honor Roll is certified to the Department of Veterans Affairs as being entitled to receive the special pension of $400 per month.
- (2) Enlisted recipients of the Medal of Honor are entitled to a supplemental uniform allowance.
- (3) Special entitlements to air transportation under the provisions of DOD Regulation 4515.13-R.
- (4) Identification card, commissary and exchange privileges for Medal of Honor recipients and their eligible dependents.
- (5) Children of recipients are eligible for admission to the U.S. Service Academies without regard to the quota requirements.
- (6) Ten percent increase in retired pay under Title 10, USC 3991, subject to the 75% limit on total retired pay

Crowns as used on British Imperial system medals (from 1837)

Imperial State (Queen Victoria's) Crown (1837)	Tudor (King's) Crown (1902)	Imperial State Crown (rebuilt in 1937)	St Edward's (Queen's) Crown (1953)
Much more detail on Crowns & Cyphers as used on badges & medals

Medals for the "common soldier"

The practice of awarding individual medals to the "common soldier" started about the same time as the colonies that became Australia started. Originally they were campaign medals only. Later awards for bravery or superior non-combat service became part of the arrangements. Later still long service and or good conduct medals were "invented".

Of course, for hundreds of years before that, it was common for the nobility to award ever increasing numbers of fancy trinkets to themselves and the chosen few military men that were at the top of the pile. Often these were specially struck coins. People started to exhibit these coins publicly and then started to hang them from coloured ribbons and to wear them on clothing. Thus started the habit of the wearing of medals.

Chivalry awards date back to the time of the Crusades and before but the recognised Orders of Chivalry started much later.
- The Order of the Garter is the most senior and the oldest British Order of Chivalry and was founded by Edward III in 1348.
- "The Blue Max" officially the Order of Merit (from Prussia) was established in 1667 by Margrave Frederick (later to become King Frederick I).
- Most Honourable Order of the Bath (British) started in 1725
- Most Distinguished Order of St Michael & St George (British) started in 1818
- Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (British) started 1917

The badge of the Order of the Garter

The Order of the Garter, consisting of the King and twenty-five knights, was intended by Edward III to be reserved as the highest reward for loyalty and for military merit.

Like The Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), the other founder-knights had all served in the French campaigns of the time, including the battle of Crécy - three were foreigners who had previously sworn allegiance to the English king: four of the knights were under the age of 20 and few were much over the age of 30.

Note. A garter was worn around the leg, above the knee, originally to keep stockings from falling down but later as a fashion item. Later still as an emblem of rank and /or stature.
	The origin of the emblem of the Order, a blue garter, is obscure. It is said to have been inspired by an incident which took place whilst the King danced with Joan, Countess of Salisbury. <<< The Garter as now worn

The Countess's garter fell to the floor and after the King retrieved it he tied it to his own leg. Those watching this were apparently amused, but the King admonished them saying, in French, 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' (Shame on him who thinks this evil).

This then became the motto of the Order. Modern scholars think it is more likely that the Order was inspired by the strap used to attach pieces of armour, and that the motto could well have referred to critics of Edward's claim to the throne of France.

The garter is still used to this day on some Australian hat badges. See the current Royal Australian Engineers badge (left). On many earlier badges in Australia and elsewhere the garter itself was often in blue enamel, especially on Officer's versions of the badges.

The idea that common men were to be rewarded with some outward sign of service rendered started roughly about the same time as the issue of formal uniforms. (Details)

Originally the common soldiers were awarded a small metal badge (medal) to indicate service in a particular campaign (campaign medal) but there was no award to indicate superior service or exceptional bravery or skill. In class conscious Britain it was not considered necessary to reward the ordinary soldier.

The first British awards for service.

Above left. Naval General Service Medal 1793/1840 (NGS). Above centre. The Military General Service Medal 1793/1814.(reverse) (MGS). Above right & right. Obverse, Military General Service Medal 1793/1814 & clasps. The MGS medal was sanctioned in 1847 and issued in 1848, was awarded for services during the Napoleonic Wars 1801-14. 30+ years AFTER the war. Most clasps were awarded for services during the Peninsula War of 1811-14: 6 clasps were issued for the Peninsula War 1808-09; 3 clasps for service in Canada; 2 clasps for service in West Indies; 1 clasp for service in Egypt 1801; 1 clasp for service in Maida 1806; and 1 clasp for service in Java 1811.
In total 29 clasps were made, the most awarded to one recipient was 15. The obverse of the medal shows the usual head of Victoria, whilst the reverse show Victoria placing a laurel wreath on Wellington as he kneels before her.

Private Medals

Some forward thinking individual Commanding Officers issued Regimental awards to their troops for superior service or bravery.

One such example is the 77th Regiment of Foot.

This is a solid silver regimental medal by Davis , which measures just under 1½ inches in diameter.

The medal is named to G Ross, who is possibly the same G Ross of the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot who was awarded the Military General Service medal with bars for the famous bloody battles of Ciudad Rodrigo, 8 January, 1812, and Badajoz, 17th of March 1812 . Refer to the picture of Mullen’s MGS 1793-1814 medal roll which states the above.

One side shows 77, surrounded by laurels and a crown above, with PENINSULA in a scroll. The reverse shows Minerva (the Roman goddess of wisdom), placing a laurel wreath on the head of a young man. This actual medal is shown in Balmer’s British and Irish Regimental and Volunteer Medals 1745 to 1895 page 218.

Regimental medals were awarded to deserving officers and men by their regiment, and were the only means of recognising outstanding service.

This is a unique solid silver regimental medal named to John Martin of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, (The Prince of Wales’s Own). It measures 2.5 inches by nearly 2 inches and is suspended by a modern replacement ribbon.

One side has the words A REWARD OF MERIT to John Martin From his Brethren in Arms ~ 1817 ~. The other shows the Prince of Wales feathers surmounted by PENINSULA with 3 Dragoon Guards below.

At this time the Peninsula war honours to the 3rd Dragoon Guards were Talavera, Albuhera, Vittoria and Toulouse .

This actual medal is shown in Balmer’s British and Irish Regimental and Volunteer Medals 1745 to 1895 page 36. (See picture). Beamish states this is probably John Martin, the Quartermaster to the Regiment.

The 3rd Dragoon Guards amalgamated with the 6th in 1922, then with the Scots Greys in 1971 to become the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards as they are known today.

From, in part, L. L. Gordon, British Battles and Medals, 5th Edition revised:

Though styled the Waterloo Medal, it was awarded to anyone who had taken part in one or more of the following battles
- Ligny, 16th June;
- Quatre Bras, 16th June;
- Waterloo, 18th June.

Every soldier present at either of these battles was credited with two extra years' service, to count for all purposes.

By a General Order dated 29th July, 1815, the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards were granted the title of "Grenadiers" for their service during the battle of Waterloo.

This is the first medal issued by the British Government to all soldiers present. This statement must not be confused and read as if this were the first battle for which a general issue was made.

The Dunbar Medal of 1650 (see obverse far left, reverse left) was issued to both officers (in gold) and men (in silver), after Cromwell's victory at the Battle of Dunbar, 3 September 1650.

There is no verification of its having been given to all officers and men.

It possibly was and that was Parliament's intention but as to whether it happened or not is disputed.

Obverse shows Oliver Cromwell the Protector.

Reverse shows British House of Commons in session

Issued without riband.

The wording is; Word at Dunbar "The Lord of Hosts" (the battle cry of that day) plus 3 Sep 1650

The Military General Service Medal commemorates earlier battles, but was not issued until 1848.

It (the Waterloo Medal) is also the first campaign medal awarded to the next-of-kin of men killed in action. (The Highland Society's medal of 1801 was not a campaign medal.)

It is not generally known that the Waterloo Medal also has another distinction in that it was the first on which the recipient's name was impressed around the edge by machine.

Medals for Bravery, Gallantry, Valour or superior service

Obverse above, reverse below

At the time of the Crimea War (1854/56) there was no award available to both Officers and Other Ranks for superior service of any sort.
- The Campaign Medal (left) was issued to all troops but there was no gallantry award that spanned the classes.
  - The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was founded by Queen Victoria in 1854 but was for ORs only.
  - The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) dates back to 1886 but was for (lower ranked) Officers only.
  - The Victoria Cross was first awarded on 26 June 1857. It was the first (and remains) available to all ranks. Details.


VC	DSO	DCM

As time goes by the award of medals becomes more equal and less class aware. For example the Military Cross (centre right) and the Military Medal (far right) were supposedly equal awards but the MC was for Officers only and the MM was ORs only.

The award of the Military Medal has been discontinued and the MC is now available to all ranks (in the UK), although the award is not made to officers above the rank of Major.

In Australia & NZ the issue of Imperial Awards has ceased.

There is now and always has been a degree of cynicism about the award of medals. When the possibility of creating the medal that was later named the Victoria Cross was being discussed in 1855 the Duke of Newcastle, the Secretary of State for War said

"The value attached by soldiers to a little bit of ribbon is such as to render any danger insignificant and any privation light if it can be attained."

However the cynicism was tempered with a degree of enlightened thinking because he also said, at the same time,

"It does not seem to me right of politic, that such deeds of heroism as the war has produced should go un-rewarded by any distinctive mark of honour because they are done by privates or officers below the rank of major."
- Looking back, and knowing that all of the hard and dangerous work of war is done by "privates or officers below the rank of major" it seems hard to understand the thinking that had previously kept them from recognition.

Types of medals (with examples)
The words "ribbon" and "riband" are 100% interchangeable when it comes to medals.
	Neck or Breast badges of an Order. These are not really medals but can look like them and in some cases their ribbon is worn on the medal bar. (Example: KCB) For details go to Knighthoods
	Bravery Awards & Merit Awards -- Some medals are awarded for specific acts of bravery or special meritorious service (military or civilian). Many bravery awards have specific requirements that potential recipients are expected to fulfill. (Example: Military Cross) For details go to Gallantry medals
	Campaign Medals are struck to commemorate specific battles or campaigns. They are then awarded to people who served or fought directly in that campaign. (Example: Pacific Star) For details go to Medals for Australians
	Service Medals are similar to campaign medals but are applied to a larger scope of events. After a war or conflict, most nations honour all veterans who served by awarding a service medal; regardless of any campaign or specific battle. (Example: 1939/45 War Medal) For details go to Australian Military Medals overview
	Faithful or Long Service or Long Service & Good Conduct awards are given to honor service over time, (10 years, 25 years, etc.) rather than specific campaigns or wars. Often a clasp is issued to indicate a further designated period of service. (Example: The National Medal for Service)
	Bars. Indicate the 2nd or subsequent award of the same medal. Bars are worn on the ribbon of the original award. Bars and clasps are often confused but tell totally different things about the wearer. (Example: Military Medal with 2 bars)
	Emblems on medal ribbons. These are worn on the ribbon of the original medal or a designated medal to indicate various things: To acknowledge the award of the MiD or King's (Queen's) Commendation. Details In the USA a "V" device indicates medal awarded for "Valour" as opposed to superior non-combat service. In the USA a Bronze Star indicates subsequent award of the same medal or Citation. On some European medals various devices (palms, stars etc) indicate a higher degree of honour. On some WW2 medals numbers were used as emblems to indicate the particular Army (1st or 8th) in the Africa Campaign. On new Unit Citations a bronze star emblem indicates the wearer was personally engaged in the action that earned the award.
	Emblems on Ribbon Bars. These are similar to the emblems as worn on the medal ribbons but there are some differences. On gallantry medals a small cross or rosette indicates a second or subsequent award of the same decoration. In many cases a clasp is worn on the medal and an emblem is worn on the ribbon bar. Where an oak-leaf or similar device is worn it is of a smaller size and has different positioning rules
	Clasps. These are used to indicate participation in a particular battle or minor conflict and are worn on the ribbon (riband) of the medal. (Example: Malaya clasp for the Australian Active Service Medal 1945/75)
For details see below	Ribbon Bars. These are worn when wearing medals is not appropriate. They are created by mounting the ribbons of the medals in correct order. Often a bar or extra service clasp is indicated by the addition of a rosette or similar device as seen here on the Reserve Forces Decoration (RFD). (Example: Reserve Forces Decoration with extra service clasp & National Medal)
For details go to Unit awards	Unit Awards. These are awarded to a Unit and all personnel in that unit wear the emblem. They usually require that a body of troops, acting together, showed the same amount of courage and determination that would be required for an individual to be awarded the corresponding individual medal. For example the US Presidential Unit Citation (example) is the same as each man being awarded the US Distinguished Service Cross.

Ribbon Bars

In the Australian Army or RAAF, a row of ribbons consists of not more than four ribbons for a man and three for a woman. When more than four (or three) are worn, they are made up to display as many complete rows of four (or three) as possible, with any uncompleted row in a central position at the top.

In the Royal Australian Navy, an individual can choose to wear a maximum of four or three ribbons in the first row with the smallest number of ribbons in the upper row.

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
- rosette indicates a second award
1939/45 Star
Africa Star with 8th Army insignia
Italy Star

Defence Medal
1939/45 War Medal with MID Oak leaf
US Medal of Merit
US Bronze Star

Translations & dates of Sovereign's Reign

Rex
- = King;
Rex et Imperator
- = King & Emperor
Regina
- = Queen;
Regina et Imperatrix
- = Queen & Emperor

Sovereign	Reigned	House of
King George 3rd	1760-1820	Hanover
King George 4th	1820-1830	Hanover
King William 4th	1830-1837	Hanover
Queen Victoria	1837-1901	Hanover
King Edward 7th	1901-1910	Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
King George 5th	1910-1936	Windsor (from 1917)
King Edward 8th	1936-1936	Windsor
King George 6th	1936-1952	Windsor
Queen Elizabeth 2nd	1952-	Windsor

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