United Nations Medal

This article is about awards granted for participation in operations sanctioned by the United Nations. It is crucial to distinguish this from the United Nations Peace Medal, which is a diplomatic and souvenir item, not a service decoration.

United Nations Medal

The United Nations Medal is a service medal, an international decoration bestowed by the United Nations to member nations. It recognizes individuals who have actively participated in joint international military and police operations undertaken by the UN, encompassing peacekeeping missions, humanitarian aid efforts, and disaster relief operations. Within military and police forces, this medal is classified as a service medal. The United Nations first issued a medal during the Korean War, spanning from 1950 to 1953. Since 1955, a multitude of United Nations medals have been established and awarded for involvement in various UN missions and actions across the globe.

Standard United Nations Medal

The most commonly awarded United Nations medal is the standard UN decoration, simply known as the United Nations Medal. In most countries, this medal is presented for any action where a member of the armed forces or police has participated in a designated joint UN activity.

When a service member has engaged in multiple UN operations, the regulations of their respective armed forces dictate the use of service stars, campaign clasps, or award numbers as authorized attachments to the United Nations Medal. These devices serve to denote additional qualifying periods of service or participation in distinct missions.

The UN has authorized the attachment of numerals to the medal ribbon. These numerals do not signify the number of campaigns served in, but rather the count of qualifying periods of service. Each qualifying period is typically counted as 180 days following an initial qualifying period of 90 days, provided the service is performed consecutively for 270 days. For two or more deployments, each deployment must consist of at least 90 consecutive days.

United Nations Korea Medal

The inaugural United Nations medal to be established was the United Nations Service Medal, also recognized as the United Nations Service Medal Korea. This award was presented to any military service member belonging to an Armed Force allied with South Korea who participated in the defense of South Korea against North Korea between June 27, 1950, and July 27, 1953. Specific durations for eligibility varied; for instance, the military forces of the Netherlands were awarded the medal for service up to January 1, 1955, while the armed forces of Thailand and Sweden continued to grant the award until July 27, 1955.

United Nations Emergency Force Medal

In 1956, to uphold the peace that followed the Suez Crisis, the United Nations Emergency Force was established. This marked the United Nations' first Peacekeeping operation. To honor the service of troops hailing from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, India, Norway, Sweden, and Yugoslavia, those who completed ninety days of service with UNEF were awarded the United Nations Emergency Force Medal. The mission was active from November 1956 until June 1967. A distinctive feature of this medal, unlike subsequent UN medals, is that its obverse bears the inscription "UNEF" rather than simply "UN."

United Nations Medal Ribbons

In the majority of nations, the standard United Nations Medal is awarded in place of a mission-specific medal. While most operations are distinguished by unique ribbon designs, there have been instances where multiple missions share identical campaign ribbons. This often occurs when the UN Security Council designates missions within the same geographical region but alters the mission mandate through subsequent resolutions. In such cases, the ribbon might initially remain unchanged to reflect the shared operational area, only to be updated later to signify the evolving operational environment.

A notable example is the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH), established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 867 on September 23, 1993, and concluding in June 1996. This mission aimed to quell the conflict and instability stemming from the 1991 Haitian coup d'état. Subsequent missions focused on maintaining stability and training the Haitian National Police, operating under the mandates of UNSMIH, UNTMIH, MIPONUH, and MICAH. All these subsequent missions utilized the same ribbon as the original UNMIH.

Similarly, in East Timor, the medals awarded for UNAMET, UNTAET, and UNMISET all share the same ribbon design.

The following table outlines some of the key UN operations for which medals have been awarded, including their approximate years of operation and operational areas:

Years	Ribbon bar	Operation	Operation area
1948–		UNTSO	Middle East
1949–		UNMOGIP	India, Pakistan
1958		UNOGIL	Lebanon, Syria
1960–1964		ONUC	Congo
1962–1963		UNSF	West New Guinea
1963–1964		UNYOM	Yemen
1964–		UNFICYP	Cyprus
1965–1966	No medal	DOMREP	Dominican Republic
1965–1966		UNIPOM	India, Pakistan
1973–1979		UNEF II	Egypt, Israel
1974–		UNDOF	Golan Heights
1978–		UNIFIL	Lebanon
1988–1991		UNIIMOG	Iraq, Iran
1988–1990		UNGOMAP	Afghanistan, Pakistan
1988–1991		UNAVEM I	Angola
1989–1990		UNTAG	Namibia
1989–1992		ONUCA	Central America
1991–2003		UNIKOM	Kuwait, Iraq
1991–		MINURSO	Western Sahara
1991–1995		UNAVEM II	Angola
1991–1995		ONUSAL	El Salvador
1991–2003		UNGCI	Iraq
1991–1992		UNAMIC	Cambodia
1992–1995		UNPROFOR	Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars
1992–1993		UNTAC	Cambodia
1992–1993		UNOSOM I	Somalia
1992–1994		ONUMOZ	Mozambique
1993–1995		UNOSOM II	Somalia
1993–1994		UNOMUR	Rwanda, Uganda
1993–2009		UNOMIG	Georgia
1993–1997		UNOMIL	Liberia
1993–1996		UNAMIR	Rwanda
1993–1996		UNMIH	Haiti
1994	No medal	UNASOG	Libya Chad
1994–2000		UNMOT	Tajikistan during civil war
1995–1997		UNAVEM III	Angola
1995–1999		UNPREDEP	Macedonia
1995–1996		UNCRO	Croatia

Years	Ribbon bar	Operation	Operation area
1995–2002		UNMIBH	Bosnia-Herzegovina
1996–1998		UNTAES	Croatia
1996–1997		UNSMIH	Haiti
1996–2002		UNMOP	Croatia
1997		MINUGUA	Guatemala
1997–1999		MONUA	Angola
1997		UNTMIH	Haiti
1997–2000		MIPONUH	Haiti
1998		UNPSG	Croatia
1998–2000		MINURCA	Central African Republic
1998–1999		UNOMSIL	Sierra Leone
1999–		UNMIK	Kosovo
1999		UNAMET	East Timor
1999–2005		UNAMSIL	Sierra Leone
1999–2002		UNTAET	East Timor
1999–2010		MONUC	Democratic Republic of the Congo
2000–2001		MICAH	Haiti
2000–2008		UNMEE	Eritrea, Ethiopia
2002–2005		UNMISET	East Timor
2003–2018		UNMIL	Liberia
2003–2004		MINUCI	Ivory Coast
2004–2018		UNOCI	Ivory Coast
2004–2017		MINUSTAH	Haiti
2004–2006		ONUB	Burundi
2005–2011		UNMIS	Sudan
2006–2012		UNMIT	East Timor
2007–2020		UNAMID*	Sudan
2007–2010		MINURCAT	Central African Republic, Chad
2010–		MONUSCO	Democratic Republic of the Congo
2011–		UNISFA	Sudan
2011–		UNMISS	South Sudan
2012		UNSMIS	Syria
2013–		MINUSMA	Mali
2014–		MINUSCA	Central African Republic
2017–2019		MINUJUSTH	Haiti
2021–2024	Need image	UNITAMS	Sudan [11]
1974–		UNHQ	For service in the United Nations Headquarters

*Regarding the UNAMID medal, the ribbon design underwent a modification after 2008, transitioning from a predominantly yellow pattern to one featuring blue, green, yellow, and white elements.

United Nations Special Service Medal

The United Nations Special Service Medal (UNSSM) is awarded for completing 90 days of service with a United Nations mission or organization for which no specific UN medal has been authorized. This can include service with entities such as the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs Accelerated De-Mining Programme (MADP) in Mozambique, or work undertaken with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), among others. It's a way to acknowledge contributions where a dedicated mission medal doesn't exist.

Receipt and Wear of UN Medals

The regulations regarding the receipt and wear of United Nations medals vary significantly between nations.

France, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand: These countries generally permit members of their military and police forces to receive and display multiple United Nations Medals as distinct decorations, recognizing each separate qualifying service.

Ukraine: Personnel of the Armed Forces have the option to wear United Nations medals. When worn, these medals take precedence after national and presidential decorations, as well as those from the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, and other military units, ministries, and departments. They are worn before decorations from the European Union and NATO, arranged in order of award.

United Kingdom: In the United Kingdom, British citizens are permitted to receive the relevant United Nations medal. Authorization for its wear is granted by the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office). Numerals can be added to denote multiple tours within the same mission. The medals are worn in order of award, taking precedence alongside British campaign medals.

United States: Within the United States Armed Forces, prior to October 13, 1995, all US military personnel were authorized to wear only the blue and white United Nations Ribbon, irrespective of the specific ribbon awarded for their service. A policy change on October 13, 1995, approved by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), altered this regulation. Effective from that date, personnel awarded the United Nations Medal may wear the first medal and ribbon for which they qualify. For subsequent awards of the United Nations Medal for service in a different mission, a bronze service star is added. Crucially, no more than one UN medal or ribbon may be worn at any given time. On US uniforms, the UN Medal is typically worn before the NATO Medal. An exception is made for the United Nations Korea Medal, which is worn as a campaign medal immediately preceding the Vietnam Campaign Medal.

US military personnel are eligible to wear the medal from one of the following United Nations operations as their singular approved medal:

UN Truce Supervisory Organization in Palestine (UNTSO)
UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
UN Observation Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL)
UN Security Forces, Hollandia (UNSFH)
UN Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA)
UN Security Force in West New Guinea [West Irian] (UNSF)
UN Iraq/Kuwait Observation Group (UNIKOM)
UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
UN Advance Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC)
UN Protection Force in Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR)
UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)
UN Operation Somalia (UNOSOM)
UN Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ)
UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG)
UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH)
UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP)
UN Transitional Administrational Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirium (UNTAES)
UN Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH)
UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA)
UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK)
UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET)
UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)
UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE)
UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET)
UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
African Union / United Nations Hybrid Operation In Darfur (UNAMID)
UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT)
UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)
UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)
UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)

Argentina: Members of the Argentinian Armed Forces are permitted to wear various UN medals as separate decorations. However, formal authorization must be sought for each individual medal, and approval is granted on a case-by-case basis. Regulations concerning the wear of either medals or ribbons apply to specific uniforms. Within the Argentinian Army, a nationally issued bar, characterized by maroon and white stripes indicating the number of tours of duty, can be worn in place of, but not in conjunction with, the UN-issued ribbons.

Switzerland: Members of the Swiss Armed Forces may wear one UN ribbon of their choosing from all UN-awarded decorations. This ribbon is worn before EU (Althea Mission) or NATO ribbons but following Swiss ribbons. Numerals are permitted on the UN ribbon, as well as on other authorized "foreign" ribbons.

Malaysia: Recipients of Malaysian UN awards are granted the post-nominal title of PNBB (Pingat Perkhidmatan Negara Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu).