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Medals

Veterans with medals at the Field of RemembranceYour Medal Consultant is only too happy to answer any queries on medals at no charge.  How to apply for them, in what order they should be worn, why some people have been refused medals by the medal office, how to get Service Records and replacement medals.  All these are often addressed.

The Royal British Legion cannot issue medals; that is done by the Ministry of Defence Medals Office, where they can check individual records of service and discover whether the medals have already been issued. 

If you want to apply for a British medal, Arctic Emblem, or Greek War Medal or Cross, the application forms are here for you to download.  If you would like to apply for a Veteran's Lapel Badge or Merchant Navy Lapel Badge, please visit the Veterans Agency website.  This website gives full up-to-date details and includes an application form.

To get information about claiming medals of many types including British Campaign Medals, and some foreign ones, please visit the Veterans Agency website.

Citations for bravery awards can sometimes be found at The National Archives, Kew.  Not all are available, but if you would like our Medals consultant to look into a particular issue, please state the theatre of war, year and unit of the soldier if at all possible.

Citations for Mentioned-in-Despatches have not been preserved for any period.

Additional resources

Notes on accessing military information at The National Archives and on the internet (PDF)

Some useful addresses for Records and Medal information (PDF)

Great War Ribbons illustrated with brief information on the qualifications required for each (PDF)

Second World War Ribbons illustrated with brief information on the qualifications required for each (PDF) 

Post Second World War Ribbons illustrated with brief information on the qualifications required for each (PDF)

Notes and Application Form for the Greek War Medal and Star awarded by the Greeks to those who fought in Greece/Crete in 1939-45.  These may be accepted but not worn.

Download Acrobat Reader - This link will open in a new windowA PDF reader is required to view these files. If needed, follow this link to download Adobe Acrobat.

Bevin Boys Lapel Badge

A badge to commemorate service as “Bevin’s Boys” has been instituted by the Government. It is available for surviving members who were alive on 20 June 2007. Applications and enquiries should be addressed to

Jeremy Cousins,
Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
Bay 137, 1 Victoria Street
London SW1 0ET
Tel: 020 7215 6145

Application forms are available by calling Veterans UK - Helpline on 0800 169 2277 or visit the Veterans-UK website.

Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps Lapel Badge

A badge to commemorate service in the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps has been instituted by the Government. It is available for surviving members of these organisations who were alive on 6 December 2007. It is not available to families or next of kin of deceased members except where the member died after 6 December 2007.

Badges may be applied for through the Defra web site or by contacting:

Defra
5E Millbank
c/- 17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR
email: womenslandarmy@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 08459 335 577

Air Transport Auxiliary Veterans Badge

The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a civilian organisation formed just before the Second World War to deliver aircraft from factories to RAF airfields, both at home and abroad. About 300,000 aircraft were delivered by the ATA during hostilities, by both male and female pilots of various nationalities. Flying unarmed military aircraft into active RAF airfields could be extremely hazardous and some 15 members lost their lives. No less than 87 were decorated for their work. 

The ATA Veterans badge is available for all surviving members of the ATA. It is not available to families or next of kin of deceased members except where the member died after 1 February 2008.

For more information about the badge and how to apply contact:

Miss Tamar Howard-Pearce
Civil Aviation Division
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
Freephone: 0800 089 1945
email: ATAveteransbadge@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.dft.gov.uk/ataveteransbadge

Unofficial Medals

Unofficial medals, sometimes called “bling medals”; are those not awarded by, or approved for wear by, the Sovereign. The official Legion position is that they should not be worn. So far as the Legion is concerned they are banned for Standard Bearers and others are to be discouraged from wearing them.

The following is the relevant extract from the Legion’s Handbook for Ceremonial and Services:

“The official rules for wearing medals allow only official awards to be worn. Unofficial purchased medals and foreign medals which do not have the Sovereign’s permission to be worn are not allowed. Standard Bearers, Parade Marshals and other officials on Legion duty are bound by this ruling and unofficial medals must not be worn when on Legion duty.”

That said, there is a strong element who wear these medals anyway, and the custom has arisen that they are worn below the official row on the left breast in such a way that they are clearly unofficial. Of course where there is no official row this is inclined to make them appear official, and this detracts from official medals worn with the Queen’s permission.

More Information

If you can't find the information you are looking for in the resourcs on this page, please contact our Medals Consultant or call Legionline on 08457 725 725 (10am - 4pm Monday to Friday).