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How the parts of a medal group fit together — medal, ribbon, clasp, device and the order they are worn in.
Also known as: Medal group, How to identify a medal, Parts of a medal
A medal group carries more information in its arrangement than in any single piece. The medal says what was awarded, the ribbon identifies it at a glance, clasps and devices modify it, and the order of wear is fixed by the awarding state. Learning those four things makes most unidentified groups readable.
A worn medal has four separable parts: the medal or badge itself, the ribbon it hangs from, any clasp or bar fixed to the ribbon, and any small device pinned to the ribbon. Each carries different information and each is specified separately by the awarding authority.
Contexts: History
The ribbon is usually the fastest identifier. Ribbon patterns are fixed by the instrument constituting the award and are unique within a system, which is why ribbon bars alone are worn on service dress and are sufficient to read a person's record.
Order of wear is prescribed rather than chosen. In British practice the sequence runs Victoria Cross and George Cross first, then orders of chivalry, then decorations, then campaign and service medals, then foreign awards — so position in a row itself carries information.
United Kingdom
Medal motifs and rank insignia overlap heavily — stars, crowns, oak leaves and bars appear in both — and confusing them leads to a badly wrong conclusion about the wearer. A device on a ribbon modifies an award; the same shape on a shoulder marks a rank.
This is the single commonest error in reading a photograph of a uniform. Position on the uniform is what separates the two.
A row of circular or cross-shaped medals hanging from short lengths of patterned ribbon, mounted side by side on a bar worn on the chest.
The ribbon bar is the undress form of the same group.