A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. A military decoration is a decoration given to Military personnel or units for Heroism in battle or distinguished service A civil decoration is a decoration awarded to civilians for distinguished service A medal is usually a Coin -like sculpted object of metal or other material that has been engraved with an Insignia, Portrait or other artistic rendering It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the recipient has met the criteria for receiving the medal in multiple theatres. In the Military sciences a military campaign is a term applied to large scale, long duration significant Military strategy plan incorporating This article describes three distinct but related terms military operations Operations as military events and operational level of war In Warfare a theater or theatre is defined as a specific geographical area of conduct of armed conflict bordered by areas where no combat is taking place Bars are also used on long service medals to indicate the length of service rendered.
When used in conjunction with decorations for exceptional service, such as gallantry medals, the term . . . and bar means that the award has been bestowed multiple times. For example, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout See below the section "Separate Commonwealth awards" Note that since The Order of Merit is a British and Commonwealth Order bestowed by the Monarch. The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO) is a Military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries awarded for The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom 's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly DSO and two bars in this context means that the Distinguished Service Order was awarded on three separate occasions. The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO) is a Military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries awarded for A common British convention is to indicate bars by the use of asterisks (e. An asterisk ( *) (Latin asteriscum "little star" from Greek ἀστερίσκος) is a Typographical symbol or Glyph g. DSO** would be a DSO and two bars).
The two terms are used because terms bar and clasp both refer to two parts of the medal; the indicator discussed in this article, and the part of the medal connected to the ribbon.
History
Prior to the early 19th century, medals and decorations were only awarded to ranking officers; occasions existed where medals were presented to soldiers, but these were often private efforts. One exception was the medal issued to participants in the Peninsular War. The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence pitted an alliance of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal against France A medal was given for service, with a clasp for each battle fought. After four clasps were earned the medal was turned in for a cross with the battle names on the arms, and additional clasps were then added. The maximum was achieved by the Duke of Wellington, with a cross and nine clasps. Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS ( c
Over the next 40 years, it became customary for governments to present a medal to all soldiers and officers involved in a campaign. These medals were often engraved with the names of the major battles the recipient had fought in during the campaign. The main disadvantages of this system were that new medals had to be created for each campaign or war, and that it was impossible to tell at a glance if the recipient was only a participant in the campaign overall, or if he had been involved in one or several major actions. The first gallantry medal to be awarded to ordinary British soldiers was the Victoria Cross in 1856. See below the section "Separate Commonwealth awards" Note that since
The Sutlej Medal, awarded to British Army and Honourable East India Company soldiers fighting in the First Anglo-Sikh War, was the first to use medal bars. The Sutlej Medal was a Campaign medal approved in 1846 for issue to officers and men of the British Army and Honourable East India Company who served The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846 The first battle the recipient participated in would be engraved on the medal itself. If the recipient had participated in multiple engagements, silver bars bearing the name of each additional battle were attached to the medal's ribbon. This method of notation evolved again on the Punjab Campaign medal, where the standard medal was awarded to all that had served during the campaign, with bars produced for the three major battles; the Battle of Chillianwala, the Siege of Multan, and the Battle of Gujarat. The Punjab Medal was a Campaign medal approved in 1849 for issue to officers and men of the British Army and Honourable East India Company who served The Battle of Chillianwala was fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Punjab, now part of Pakistan. The Siege of Multan was a prolonged contest between the city and state of Multan on the one hand and the British East India Company on the other The Battle of Gujrat was the decisive battle of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on February 21, 1849, between British forces and the Sikhs
The creation of bars led to the development of 'General Service' medals, which would be presented to any soldier serving in a general region or timeframe. Bars would be awarded to denote the particular campaign or war the recipient fought in. The 1854 India General Service Medal was awarded to soldiers over a 41-year period. Twenty-three clasps were created for this award, becoming one of the more extreme uses of this system.
The Crimea Medal was issued with ornate battle bars. The Crimea Medal was a campaign Medal approved in 1854 for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval which fought in the Crimean War of 1854-56 Since then the general trend has been to have simple horizontal devices.
Types of Bar
- Campaign Bars or Battle Bars are used to denote the particular campaign, battle, or region the recipient operated in to receive the award. This is the most common use of medal bars on military decorations. In the United Kingdom, campaign bars are usually known as clasps and when the ribbon alone is worn they are sometimes indicated by rosettes, although this is not commonly authorised (an example of one that is so authorised is the Battle of Britain clasp on the 1939-45 Star). The Battle of Britain (German ''Luftschlacht um England'' is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and In the United States Military Service stars are used to indicate participation in multiple battles or campaigns, although the World War I Victory Medal had an extensive system of bars. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States The World War I Victory Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was first created in 1919 designed by James Earle Fraser. In World War II a unique variation was the "W" placed on the separate ribbon which was issued to represent the medal bar for fighting in the Battle of Wake Island. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Battle of Wake Island began simultaneously with the Attack on Pearl Harbor and ended on December 23, 1941, with the surrender of the American
- Achievement Bars are used to indicate a particular or additional feat associated with the medal. As an example, the Wintered Over Device attached to the United States Antarctica Service Medal indicates that the recipient performed a tour of duty during the Antarctic winter. The Wintered Over Device is an attachment to the Antarctica Service Medal which is awarded to those service members who perform winter service tours in Antarctica The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Antarctica Service Medal was established by the United States Congress on July 7, 1960 under Public Law 600 of the 86th Congress. In the Military, a tour of duty is a period of time spent at Sea or assigned to service in a foreign country An unusual device the United States once issued was a tiny airplane for long service in the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 11 May 1949 was one of the first major international crises of the Cold war.
- Service Bars indicate the length of service a person has provided to the organisation presenting the award. This type of bar is most commonly found on long service medals for the military and emergency services. Emergency services are organizations which ensure Public safety by addressing different emergencies
- Multiple Award Bars display the number of times a decoration for merit or distinguished service has been awarded. In the United States Military award stars rather than bars are issued for receiving the same medal multiple times. An award star is a decoration issued by the United States military in lieu of multiple awards of the same award for example a second and subsequent Legion of Merit In the United Kingdom, each bar is indicated by a rosette when the ribbon alone is worn (or, in the case of the Victoria Cross or George Cross, by an additional miniature model of the cross itself, since one of these is always worn on the ribbon of these two awards). See below the section "Separate Commonwealth awards" Note that since The George Cross ( GC) is the highest Civil decoration of the Commonwealth of Nations.
References
- Dorling, Henry Taprell (1974). Ribbons and medals : the world’s military and civil awards, New Enlarged Edition (11th edition), Suffolk, England: W. S. Cowell Ltd. ISBN 0-540-07120-X.
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