Campaign medal

A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of the military who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a higher status as the award usually involves deployment to a foreign region or service in a combat zone.

Campaign medals were first invented to recognize general military service in war, in contrast to meritorious decorations which were only issued on a small scale for acts of heroism and bravery. The first widespread use of campaign medals dates to the era of the Napoleonic Wars when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered a large number of ribbons and medals created for issuance to the soldiers serving under his command. Seeing how the soldiers prided the receipt of such decorations, and a desire to receive more such awards, Napoleon was quoted as saying: "With a handful of ribbons I can conquer all of Europe".

In the United States armed forces, some of the more well known campaign medals include the Vietnam Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal,the Southwest Asia Service Medal, and the Kosovo Campaign Medal. The most recent additions to the U.S. Campaign Medal list are the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

ee also

;General
* British campaign medals
* Awards and decorations of the United States military;Other campaign related items
* Campaign clasp
* Campaign streamer