The French commemorative medal (french: "Médaille commémorative française") is a French decoration intended to recognize civilians and soldiers who took part in specific missions ordered by the French government carried out outside of French national territory after 1 March 1991. It was established by decree 95-1098 on 9 October 1995 on the initiative of the then Defence Minister, François Léotard.

Award statute

The French commemorative medal is awarded to civilian and military personnel who participated in a dedicated mission ordered by the government and carried out outside of French national territory after 1 March 1991. The Minister of Defence decides by individual decree each theatre of operations in which the medal may be earned, the start and end dates for award eligibility, and the minimal time in theatre required to earn the award. The minimum time required in theatre may be waived for personnel that are killed, wounded, cited with the

War Cross for foreign operational theaters War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

Cross for Military Valour The Cross for Military Valour (french: Croix de la Valeur Militaire) is a military decoration of France. It recognises an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations wh ...

, or repatriated early for medical reasons. Civilian personnel eligible are those placed at the disposal of the military authority or actively taking part in the mission in view of their function or specific job. In this case, the minister responsible for them proposes bestowal of the award to the Defence Minister for final approval. The medal may be awarded to foreign military and civilians having served under French command, subject to approval by their own governments. Any mission eligible for award of the

Overseas Medal The Overseas Medal (french: Médaille d'Outre-Mer) is a commemorative or campaign medal issued to members of the French Armed Forces and other nations in assistance to French troops for participating in operations outside national territory. It rep ...

cannot be eligible for this award. The medal is always worn with at least one clasp. Each operational mission clasp can only be earned once.

Award description

The French commemorative medal is a 30mm in diameter circular gilded medal struck from bronze. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

bears the effigy of the republic three quarters facing and wearing a Phrygian cap surrounded by the relief inscription along the medal circumference "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE" ( en, "FRENCH REPUBLIC"). The reverse is arranged akin a stylized globe, at the center, the relief image of a vertical sword pointing up within an olive wreath, the inscription "MÉDAILLE COMMÉMORATIVE FRANÇAISE" ( en, "FRENCH COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL") superimposed over it in relief. The medal hangs from a ribbon through a ring passing through the medal's ball shaped suspension loop. The 38mm wide silk moiré ribbon is divided into four red and three blue alternating 5mm wide stripes and is edged with 1,5mm green stripes. To date, ten operational mission clasps have been approved for wear on the ribbon: *EX-YOUGOSLAVIE ( en, Former-Yugoslavia) 1991 *HAÏTI ( en,

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

) 1993, 2004, 2010 *ALBANIE ( en,

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

) 1997 - 2001 *TIMOR-ORIENTAL ( en,

East-Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wester ...

) 1999 - 2000 *AFGHANISTAN ( en,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

) 2001 *ASIE DU SUD-EST ( en,

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

) 2004 *GÉORGIE ( en,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) 2008 *LIBYE ( en,

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

) 2011 *JORDANIE ( en,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

) 2012 *GUINÉE ( en,

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

) 2015 *ORMUZ ( en,

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the ...

) 2021

Notable recipients (partial list)

*General

Bernard Barrera Bernard Barrera (born 4 February 1962, in Marseille) is a general in the French Army. As commander of the 3rd Mechanized Brigade, he was in charge of ground operations during Operation Serval in Mali in 2013.http://www.defense.gouv.fr/content/dow ...

*General Pierre de Villiers *General

Jean-Paul Paloméros Jean-Paul Paloméros (born 13 August 1953 in Paris) is a retired general of the French Air Force and served as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, a senior military post in NATO. Paloméros previously served as Chief of Staff of the French ...

*General Jean-Philippe Margueron *General Antoine Lecerf *General Hervé Charpentier *General

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to h ...

, USA *CPO Henry Pacete, USN

References

External links

Museum of the Legion of Honour
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:French commemorative medal Civil awards and decorations of France Military awards and decorations of France Awards established in 1995

Award statute

Award description

Notable recipients (partial list)

See also

References

External links