MEDAL RIBBONS

[philrigger]

I have noticed recently that some senior officers are displaying their medal ribbons in a way that it looks like they have more than they do. ie If a person has 5 medal ribbons the correct pattern is a row of 4 and a row of 1. If a person has 4 medal ribbons they should be worn on one row. Recently I have observed a number of senior officers with a row of 3 and a row 2, and another with a row of 3 and a row of 1. Are these officers lacking in something ? Or have the regulations changed ? I know this is petty.


'We knew how to whinge but we kept it to the NAAFI bar.'

[Vortex_Generator]

AP 1358, Chapter 8, Para 0826. It's pretty clear!

[Onan the Clumsy]

Not Olympic medals then.

[Lafyar Cokov]

No - I think he was talking about British Officers!!!!

[FJJP]

VG, out of interest, what does the AP say? [I'm not in any more and don't have access to these wonderfully readable novels!]

[GreenWings]

VG, out of interest, what does the AP say? [I'm not in any more and don't have access to these wonderfully readable novels!]

0826. Positioning of Breast Ribbons. Ribbons are to be worn in the sequence indicated in Annex F, in importance with the senior ribbon
nearest the lapel (and in the top row when more than one row is worn). They are to be sewn without intervals on uniforms worn in temperate
areas. Ribbons are to be 7/16" (11mm) long and those of orders are to be the width of the ribbon of the membership of the order. If there is no
membership class the ribbon is to be the width of the companionship of the order (i.e. 1½" (3.8 cm) for the Orders of the Bath and British
Empire). A row is to consist of not more than four ribbons. When more than four ribbons are worn, they are to be made up to display as many
complete rows of four as possible with any incomplete row at the top. Each succeeding row is to be placed centrally above the row immediately
below it, except when it is necessary for any row or rows to be shortened. To ensure that no ribbon is either wholly or partly obscured by the
lapel or collar, the upper row or rows is/are to be shortened as necessary to display as many complete ribbons as possible in the space between
the edge of the lapel or collar and sleeve head seam. The edges of the ribbons nearest the shoulder in each complete row must be in line
vertically with the bottom row. The bottom row of ribbons is to be located immediately and centrally above the flap of the breast pocket, or in a
similar position where pockets are not fitted. The space between rows is to be 1/8" (3mm) but, if four or more rows are worn, they are to be
without space between rows.

HTH, HAND :ok:

GW

[doubledolphins]

I see RAF rules are similar to RN (BR 81). Why is it that people who have more than one row are having them sewn on touching, like our Colonial Bretheren? When the regs clearly state should be 1/8" apart?

[Onan the Clumsy]

Good God that was a lot of text!

It's like a specification for a piece of software.

[jindabyne]

I have three gongs from too many years ago, which I wear in one row, proudly, once each year before going to my local and celebrating, heavily, with several elders who don't seem to give a toss about where their thingies sit on their chests. Most have around six or seven, some more 'significant' than others, all in one row, drooping to one side, and wear them with enormous pride. Nice to have been in uniform, once out it doesn't seem to matter that much.

[DummyRun]

:D Yup, have seen it to, they soon go quiet when they clock you and realise as; a good mate said to me once," yeah, but round ones don't count" ! sweeet. I wonder how many of the viff nozz airships know that the SH force has got more gongs than the rest of the airforce put together AND that's from a truckie!!

Shame so many don't make the press....

Load Moving........

[dragon166]

jindabyne

You are confusing the wearing of ribbons with the wearing of medals. Whilst the wearing of ribbons was defined earlier, the wearing of medals is different. Medals are worn in a single row, as you have seen various veterans wearing them. If there are more than can be accomodated on a single bar then they are worn in an `overlapped fashion', with the highest award showing its full ribbon at the left of the bar, as viewed from the front. This only applies to official awards. The veterans you have seen may well have been wearing several unofficial medals and these are NOT to be worn in the same row as the official ones. It is not a case of those `in' being any different from those who have left the services.

[jindabyne]

dragon

Thank you - I stand corrected; but if you'd been in the same company as I just prior to posting, then you too may have been confused! I observe with a little wry amusement the edict that, whether 'in' or 'out', unofficial medals are NOT to be worn in the same row as official medals. Will I be arrested should I choose so to do? Or simply be called a plonker?

[BEagle]

Hmmm.....

Should you wear the medals given to you by the Amir of Kuwait 'in appreciation of the excellent efforts which contributed to the liberation of Kuwait' and Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a member of one of the 'Friendly Forces who participated in "Operation Desert Storm" and the liberation of Kuwait'?

Do you insult the Moslems you were defending by not wearing medals presented by the Amir and the King? Other nations cetainly permit their servicemen to wear them... Or do you obey the party line which forbids you to wear them alongside such hugely worthy gongs as the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal - even when 'black tie and miniatures' are required to be worn with civilian evening dress?

[Tigs2]

Dragon166
I know i dont do mornings but your statement

"The veterans you have seen may well have been wearing several unofficial medals and these are NOT to be worn in the same row as the official ones. It is not a case of those `in' being any different from those who have left the services".

Has really rubbed me up the wrong way. I dont know anything from your profile, however the way you put your message over to a 'Vet' just seems wholly disrespectful. Respect is earned, they've earned it.

Jyndabyne - Wear them with pride wherever/however you like. The only ones who will complain are the ones without any.

BEagle

I think it does give great offence that we do not wear the medals given by the Royals in Kuwait and Saudi. Maybe we should all wear them until we are told to take them off.

[dragon166]

Tigs2

You have misinterpreted what I said regarding veterans. No slur was ever intended and my comments were purely based on the regulations pertaining to the wearing of medals in the UK. The original post was with regard to wearing medals in a single row, which he had seen, compared to the information previously given in regard to multiple rows of ribbons. I was just pointing out the difference. As for unofficial medals, you will find as many views on whether they should be worn/or not, as there are medals to wear. I have no strong views on this, either way.

As for the comments regarding the wearing of the foreign awarded Gulf medals - this was a Government decision and follows a long British tradition of not wearing more than one medal for a Campaign, unlike other countries. The major exception to this being the Korean War pair. The `Fount of all honours' in the UK is Her Majesty the Queen and it is she that allows the acceptance or not of foreign medals. In the case of the Gulf medals the authorisation was for `acceptance as a keepsake' with no premission given to wear the same. Therefore, if you are still serving you are bound by the original DCI giving these permissions, whether you agree or not. If you are no longer serving then do what you will! It is unlikely that anyone would even notice if they were worn during veterans events etc.

[A2QFI]

When I left the RAF 30 years ago to work in *m*n I was required to resign my commission. I got a letter addressed to Flt Lt ***** (Ret'd) which said that I was no longer to use the rank or style of Flt Lt, despite what the envelope said. Some time later the Ruler was kind enough to give me his equivalent of an AFC and some time later I got a letter from Buck House saying that the Queen had been pleased to grant me permission to wear the medal. I wrote back saying Thanks a lot but I don't need your permission as I don't hold you commission anymore, and not surprisingly heard no more about it!

[dantura]

I wonder how many of the viff nozz airships know that the SH force has got more gongs than the rest of the airforce put together AND that's from a truckie!!


Sorry, but have you been to a Tac unit recently, TSW, TCW..etc. When I was on 'the Wing' I would say the average was about 4 gongs each, and that was about 5 years ago. There's been a few more ops since! ..and yes I know a lot of the time was spent away with SHF, but more than the rest of the AF put together??

Anyway, who cares 'how many', whatever happened to humility?:ooh:

[SASless]

While bending some elbows....amongst some 82nd Airborne Troopers....a young fellow who did skydiving on his time off got to bragging a bit about how many "jumps" he had. At some point he decided to one up the SgtMajor and asked the old geezer how many "jumps" he had made.

The SgtMajor said...replied..."Oh...five jumps."

The young trooper asked..."Five?"

SgtMajor....."Yep...Sicily,Salerno,Normandy,Nijmegen, and Corregidor."

There is a moral to this true story.

[nutcracker43]

Hello SASless,

Back from the tropic of Capricorn. Heard a similar story at a mess night in Germany way back in 1972. The person there was a German doctor who had served as a 'falshirmjager'. His jumps were in Crete and the other jumps the German forces had participated in; his first jump was an operational jump as well. Pretty ballsy I would suggest!

NC43

[Pontius Navigator]

My grandfather wore hs medals in two rows of 5. MC top left, Croix de Guerre with palms bottom right. If he was wrong I doubt anyone would have cared to tell him.

My father only had 5 and wore then 2/3. He was merchant navy.

Rules obviously change and not always for the better.

[Tigs2]

Dragon166
OK Chum Thanks!you are quite right, Sorry i accept what you say,(said i didnt do mornings!)
Tigs

[teeteringhead]

Pontius
Different rules for the RN I think, and so probably for the "Merch" also. I think it's 'cos the double breasted jackets don't have the same space as the RAF/Army ones. I've certainly seen a number of current RN officers doing 2/3 rather than 1/4, and I assume :rolleyes: they're obeying their own rules....

... and there are some obscure ones. Met a bloke once many years ago who had a civilian lifesaving gong (Royal Humane Society??) which he could (he said) legally wear on the right hand side of his uniform. An even odder one was a guy (RAF) serving at SHAPE in Belgium - he claimed the right to wear his father's Belgian medals (long story) on the right hand side - but only while serving in Belgium. If I can find the AP I might look it up.....

.... or maybe they were both taking the p!$$ out of SWOs various.....;)

[Edited to add:] Checked the AP and the Royal Humane Society on the right is correct, but no mention of the Belgique connection - although the AP does say that NOK can wear medals on the right in civvies.....

.....really must get out more....