We'd like to use analytics cookies to understand which symbols people look up, so we know what to research next. They are not used for advertising and we set none of them unless you say yes. What we store.
A metal bar fixed across a medal's ribbon, naming a campaign or action.
Also known as: Medal bar, Campaign clasp, Bar on a medal ribbon
A bar mounted on the ribbon, usually carrying an inscription. On a campaign medal it names the specific action or theatre the recipient served in, which turns a general medal into a specific record — and on a gallantry award it usually means the award was made again.
A metal bar fixed horizontally across the ribbon of a medal, generally bearing the name of a campaign, battle or period of service.
Contexts: History
On a campaign medal the clasp specifies where the recipient served, and several may be worn on one ribbon. The medal alone says a person was in a conflict; the clasps say which parts of it.
On a British gallantry decoration a bar means the award has been conferred a second or subsequent time — a bar to the Military Cross is a second Military Cross, not a variant of it.
The same object does two different jobs depending on the type of award it is attached to. Campaign clasp: where you served. Gallantry bar: awarded again.
United Kingdom
The United States uses oak leaf clusters and numerals for repeat awards rather than bars, so a bar on a US ribbon is generally not a repeat-award device.
United States
A narrow horizontal metal bar fixed across the width of a ribbon, usually with raised or engraved lettering along it.
Both are devices worn on a ribbon; a clasp names a campaign and a service star counts them.