Vietnam Medals
In reply to the observation made by Nutloose in post 102 it might help if I described in brief what awards with 'Vietnam' in the title were available to ANZAC forces in the period 1964 to 1974 (or thereabouts).
The Vietnam Medal (VM) was awarded under the Imperial Honours System, which is why as a British Imperial Award the medal has on its obverse the image of The Queen as she appears on the Coronation Medal. It was awarded to members of the Australian and New Zealand Armed Forces who between 29 May 1964 and 27 January 1973 served one or more days on the posted strength of a Unit or formation in Vietnam, or 28 days in ships or craft in inland waters off the coast. For example, the crews of the RAAF Caribou detachment based at Vung Tau qualified for the VM.
The Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal (VLSM) was established in February 1993 in order to extend recognition to persons who rendered service in support of the Australian Armed Forces (AAF) in Vietnam during the same period as for the VM but who did not qualify for the latter. Although by 1993 Australia (and New Zealand) were no longer parties to the Imperial Honours System, The Queen by an Order in Council gave permission for the medal that formed part of the VM to be used also for the VLSM.
The VLSM is/was awarded to persons serving in the AAF or who were integrated with the AAF: those who had been awarded the VM were ineligible for the VLSM, i.e. no-one could have both. Qualification for the VLSM included: membership of the crew of a ship or aircraft operating in support of the AAF; being attached to a unit or organisation operating in support of the AAF; or attached to or serving with a unit of the AAF or allied forces as an observer. For example the crews of RAAF Hercules that operated into and within Vietnam qualified for the VLSM. [Later, eligibility for the VLSM was extended to include members of the RAAF serving at Ubon in NE Thailand where they provided air and airfield defence for allied forces operating of there, i.e. the crews of RAAF F86 Sabres and ground forces protecting operations by USAF Phantoms and Jolly Green Giants, even though many of the former may never have set foot in Vietnam.]
Both the VM and the VLSM are accorded the status of War Medals.
The VLSM comprises the same (round) medal as the VM but differs first in that the supporter is plain, not embossed, and second that the ribbons are different. Both incorporate in the middle the canary yellow divided by three vertical red stripes of the flag of the Republic of Vietnam. The yellow part of the VM ribbon is flanked by red (for the Australian Army) on either side, with dark blue for the RAN on the far left (as you view it) and light blue for the RAAF on the far right. The VLSM has dark blue adjacent to the yellow part on the left, with red on its left, whilst on the right of the yellow central band lies a strip of brown (for the waters of the coastal and inland waterways) with light blue on its right. Both are quite colourful!
To any of my onetime colleagues in the RAAF who read this post, please excuse the abbreviated background as I have described it, for I know well that there is much more to this than I have been able to set down here. But readers will get the general picture.
To return to the thread, it occurs to me that having the same round medal but slightly different ribbons might answer the question as to how to award a medal to UK service personnel involved in operations where some are in theatre and others are outside. Those risking their lives and encountering rigour could have their medal suspended by an appropriate ribbon, whilst those engaged in qualifying support activities could have the same medal but with a ribbon in which the colours would be arranged differently. This might be an alternative solution to having a rosette aka the South Atlantic Medal (Falklands).