The Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service was instituted by the President of the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 16 April 2003 and came into effect on 27 April 2003. It can be awarded to all ranks whose character and conduct have been irreproachable and who have completed ten years of qualifying service.Warrant by the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of the "Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service" for the South African National Defence Force, Gazette no. 25213 dated 25 July 2003.South African Medal Website - South African National Defence Force
(Accessed 1 May 2015)

The South African military

The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
(Accessed 30 April 2015)
(Accessed 30 April 2015)

Institution

The Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service was instituted by the President on 16 April 2003 and came into effect on 27 April 2003. The bilingual title of the medal is in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

and English.South African Medal Website - Legal aspects - Fount of Honour
(Accessed 1 May 2015)

Award criteria

The medal can be awarded to all ranks of the South African National Defence Force and of any Auxiliary Service of the South African National Defence Force, whose character and conduct have been irreproachable and who, on or after 27 April 2003, have completed ten years of qualifying service, not necessarily continuous. The medal and the Bars to the medal may be awarded posthumously. Qualifying service include service in the former constituent permanent or part-time forces of the SANDF as well as other former uniformed establishments, such as the Police forces and Prisons services of South Africa, the Republics of

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...

and

Ciskei Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

and the Self-Governing Territories. Upon completion of further periods of ten years of qualifying service, the Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service and the appropriate bar may be awarded in addition to previous medals for long service which had been awarded for service in these former forces. Guidelines, consisting of appropriate words or phrases which may be useful when writing a citation for the award of the Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service, have been published by the South African Defence Department.Medalje vir Troue Diens (Good Service Medal)
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Orders of wear

Only one medal is conferred and, for each additional period of ten years of qualifying service to a maximum of another forty years, altogether four bars may be awarded to denote subsequent conferments of the medal. The position of the Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service in the official military and national orders of precedence depends on which bars for further periods of service beyond ten years, if any, had been awarded to the recipient.

Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service

In respect of the Medalje vir Troue Diens without a bar, for ten years service, the official order of precedence is as follows:Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, Ribbon - Service Medal in Bronze

Ribbon - Queen's Medal for Champion Shots

;Official military order of precedence: * Preceded by the Service Medal in Bronze of Umkhonto we Sizwe. * Succeeded by the

Queen's Medal for Champion Shots in the Military Forces The Medal for the Best Shot in the British Army, Infantry, was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1869 and was awarded annually from 1870 to 1882 to the best shot of the Infantry of the British Army, including the Royal Engineers and the Colonial ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. ;Official national order of precedence: * Preceded by the Service Medal in Bronze of Umkhonto we Sizwe. * Succeeded by the

of the United Kingdom.

Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar, 20 years

In respect of the Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar for twenty years service, the official order of precedence is as follows: Ribbon - Silver Service Medal

;Official military order of precedence: * Preceded by the Silver Service Medal of the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks on ...

. * Succeeded by the

Union Medal The Union Medal was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1952. It was awarded to Permanent Force members of the South African Defence Force for eighteen years of service and good conduct.Alexander, E.G.M., Barron, G.K.B. and Bateman, A.J. ...

of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

. ;Official national order of precedence: * Preceded by the Silver Service Medal of the Azanian People's Liberation Army. * Succeeded by the Medal for Faithful Service in the Prisons Service of the

Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar, 30 years

In respect of the Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar for thirty years service, the official order of precedence is as follows: Ribbon - Service Medal in Gold

;Official military order of precedence: * Preceded by the Service Medal in Gold of Umkhonto we Sizwe. * Succeeded by the

John Chard Decoration The John Chard Decoration, post-nominal letters JCD, was a military long service decoration which was instituted by the Union of South Africa on 6 April 1952. It was awarded to members of the Citizen Force of the South African Defence Force for ...

(JCD) of the Republic of South Africa. ;Official national order of precedence: * Preceded by the Service Medal in Gold of Umkhonto we Sizwe. * Succeeded by the

(JCD) of the Republic of South Africa.

Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar, 40 years

In respect of the Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar for forty years service, the official order of precedence is as follows: Ribbon - Medal for Distinguished Conduct & Loyal Service 3

Ribbon - Medal for Distinguished Conduct & Loyal Service 3

;Official military order of precedence: * Preceded by the

Medal for Distinguished Conduct and Loyal Service The Medal for Distinguished Conduct and Loyal Service is a South African military medal which was instituted by the Republic in 1987. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for forty years of loyal service and distinguished ...

of the Republic of South Africa. * Succeeded by the

Good Service Medal, Gold The Good Service Medal, Gold, originally named the South African Defence Force Good Service Medal, Gold, is the senior of a set of three military medals which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa on 1 July 1975. It was initially award ...

of the Republic of South Africa. ;Official national order of precedence: * Preceded by the

of the Republic of South Africa. * Succeeded by the Police Faithful Service Medal, 35 Years of the Republic of Transkei.

Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar, 50 years

In respect of the Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar for fifty years service, the official order of precedence is as follows: Ribbon - Closure Commemoration Medal

;Official military order of precedence: * Preceded by the Closure Commemoration Medal of the Republic of South Africa. * Succeeded by the

of the Republic of South Africa. ;Official national order of precedence: * Preceded by the Police Service Amalgamation Medal of the Republic of South Africa. * Succeeded by the

of the Republic of South Africa.

Emblem for Reserve Force Service

The Emblem for Reserve Force Service, post-nominal letters RD, was instituted on 27 April 2003 and may be awarded to members in the part-time Reserves of the South African National Defence Force who have performed twenty years of loyal service, of which not less than five years were served in the Reserve Force, service in the former Citizen Force or Commandos included. The emblem is worn on the centre of the ribbon of the - , above any bars awarded for periods of extended service, and may be continued to be worn even if the recipient is later appointed in the Regular Force.South African Soldier Vol. 10 no. 7, July 2003
/ref> The conferring of the Emblem for Reserve Force Service entitles recipients to the use of the post-nominal letters RD, denoting "Reserve Distinction".

Description

;Obverse The Medalje vir Troue Diens - Medal for Loyal Service was struck in nickel-silver, circular in shape with a diameter of 38 millimetres and a raised edge, with the edge evenly scalloped. The obverse of the medal bears the Coat of Arms of the Republic of South Africa in relief. ;Reverse The reverse bears the emblem of the South African National Defence Force at the top and is inscribed, in relief, with the words "VIR TROUE DIENS" around the lower perimeter, with the medal number impressed between the emblem and the inscription. The medal is attached to a plain nickel-silver suspender affixed to the upper rim of the medal.
;Ribbon The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide and national flag green, with a 3 millimetres wide national flag red band and a 3 millimetres wide white band on the left edge, and a 3 millimetres wide white band and a 3 millimetres wide national flag blue band on the right edge. ;Bars The bars are 33 millimetres wide and 5 millimetres high, with the Arabic numerals "20", "30", "40" or "50" respectively in relief in the centre. When only a ribbon bar is worn, silhouette button replicas of the medal, 8 millimetres in diameter and with the Arabic numerals "20", "30", "40" or "50" respectively in relief, is affixed to the ribbon bar to denote each bar awarded, evenly spaced on the breadth of the ribbon. The bars and ribbon buttons are struck in the following metals: * Silver for the completion of twenty years of service. * Matt silver for the completion of thirty years of service. * Silver-gilt for the completion of forty years of service. * Matt silver-gilt for the completion of fifty years of service. ;Emblem for Reserve Force Service The Emblem for Reserve Force Service consists of the uppercase letters "RD", 8 millimetres high and struck in silver.

References

{{South African military decorations and medals Military decorations and medals of South Africa Awards established in 2003 2003 establishments in South Africa