The New Zealand General Service Medal 2002 (Solomon Islands) (NZGSM 2002 (Sol)) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force 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 high ...

for service in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. The medal was awarded for service during Operation Purple Haze 1 and 2, Operation Zephyr, and the International Peace Monitoring Team from 2000 to 2002 and with the

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...

(RAMSI) from 2003 to 2013.

Background

This medal was instituted in 2002 to recognise New Zealand personnel (both military and non military) who served in the Solomon Islands and its waters between June 2000 and June 2002. Eligibility for the medal was later extended to those New Zealand personnel who have served with the RAMSI, and to New Zealand police personnel who provided support and assistance to the Solomon Islands Government in re-establishing order for 30 days or longer through 2013. RAMSI was an Australian led intervention force providing assistance in the restoration of law and order to the Solomon Islands. At the peak of New Zealand’s contribution to RAMSI, between September and November 2003, over 220 New Zealand Defence Force personnel and 35 New Zealand police officers were serving in the Solomon Islands. In all, over 1100 New Zealand Defence Force personnel have served as part of RAMSI, as have more than 430 New Zealand police officers.

Appearance

The New Zealand General Service Medal (Solomon Islands) is circular in shape and is made of silver-plated metal. 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 ...

of the medal bears the Effigy of the reigning

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

. The reverse bears the inscription ''THE NEW ZEALAND GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL'' surrounded by a wreath of fern fronds, pohutukawa, and kowhai blossoms, surmounted by a Royal Crown. The ribbon of the medal is wide and green with a central stripe yellow bordered by dark blue on each side. The colors are the main colors of the

Flag of the Solomon Islands The flag of Solomon Islands consists of a thin yellow diagonal stripe divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a blue upper triangle and green lower triangle, and the canton charged with five white stars. Adopted in 1977 to ...

. The proportions of the ribbon's stripes is the same as the New Zealand General Service Medal 1992.

References

{{New Zealand campaign medals New Zealand campaign medals New Zealand–Solomon Islands relations