Orders, Decorations, And Medals Of Norway
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This is a list of Norwegian orders and medals, in order of precedence. This list contains all medals approved for wearing on a Norwegian military uniform in ranked order.


Group 1: Awarded by or approved by H.M. The King

Those awards presented by or approved by the
King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms ...
are worn in an order of precedence established by Royal Decree of 11 June 1943, with subsequent additions.


Royal Family Orders

* Royal Family Order of King Haakon VII of Norway (1906–1957) *
Royal Family Order of King Olav V of Norway The Royal Family Order of Olav V of Norway is a decoration awarded to female members of the Norwegian royal family. It was established in 1958 and has not been awarded since the death of King Olav V. The ribbon of the Order was red, bordered w ...
(1957–1991) * Royal Family Order of King Harald V of Norway (1991–current) These are not worn on military uniform.


Group 2: Foreign state decorations

Decorations that are awarded or approved by foreign heads of state. They are ranked as follows: British, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Swedish, other countries are ranked alphabetically by their name in French.


Group 3: Decorations of UN, NATO, EU, OSCE and similar

Decorations from international operations led by UN,
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and other international organisations. The
Multinational Force and Observers Medal The Multinational Force and Observers Medal is an international military decoration which was first created on March 24, 1982. The medal was established under the authority of the Director-General of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) wh ...
is also placed in this group, so was the formerly approved PLANELM Medal. Medals are ranked by the year a mission started, oldest first.


Group 4: Other Norwegian decorations


Group 5: Other foreign decorations

Foreign awards that do not fall into any of the groups above can be approved for use on Norwegian military uniform upon application. The order of wear as for group 2.


Group 6: Medals awarded for military skills

Since 2008, the old medals were no longer approved worn on military uniform, and got replaced by the following medals in 2012: * Norwegian defence shooting badge * Norwegian defence military sports badge


Military medals of skills

These decorations are most often divided in three classes: bronze, silver and gold. They are most often awarded as metal badges, but if the gold requirements are met over several years a medal is awarded: * The military sharp shooting badge (shooting) * The military marching badge (30 km march with gear) * The military skiing badge (30 km skiing, including shooting) * The military infantry badge (infantry skills) * The military sports badge (military sports) * The military penthathlon badge ( Military pentathlon) Since 2008, the above medals are no longer approved worn on military uniform. The requirements for these medals can be a part of earning the current military medals


Civilian medals of skills

These share most of the characteristics of the badges and medals awarded for military skills, but the requirements may vary more: * Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's merit badge (shooting) *
Norwegian Confederation of Sports The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports ( no, Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og paralympiske komité; NIF) is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in No ...
Medal (sports) *
Norwegian Swimming Federation The Norwegian Swimming Federation ( no, Norges Svømmeforbund - ''NSF'') is the national federation of swimming in Norway. The president is Per Rune Eknes (since 2009) and the vice-president is Svein-Harald Afdal. The Norwegian Swimming Federation ...
's «The big seahorse» (swimming) *
Norwegian Shooting Association Norges Skytterforbund (NSF), literally the Norwegian Shooting Association, is a Norwegian umbrella organization for shooting sports, and is internationally affiliated with the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), Fédération Internatio ...
's army rifle medal (NAIS-medal) (shooting) * Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's biathlon medal ( –1983) /
Norwegian Biathlon Association The Norwegian Biathlon Association ( no, Norges Skiskytterforbund) (NSSF) was founded 10 December 1983 and is a Norwegian association for biathlon, and is a member of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports and th ...
's medal (1983– ) (
biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...
) Since 2008, the above medals are no longer approved worn on military uniform. The requirements for these medals can be a part of earning the current military medals. Additional civilian skills medal no longer approved worn on military uniform: * Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's medal of shooting (gold), also known as ''DFS organization medal'' (shooting) – ''Old ribbon version, the current is the same as the silver medal.'' * Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's medal of shooting (silver), also known as ''DFS organization medal'' (shooting)


Foreign medals of skills

Foreign military and civilian skill medals are generally not permitted to be used on Norwegian military uniforms, unless permission has been applied and granted. Such skill medals then rank very last, after all other awards and skill marks. The following foreign skill mark is approved: *
Cross for the Four Day Marches The Cross for the Four Day Marches ( nl, Vierdaagsekruis) is a Dutch Royal decoration awarded for successful participation in the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen (Vierdaagse in Dutch) held annually at Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The fu ...


Unit citations

The Norwegian Armed Forces does not have any unit citations. Norwegian personnel who have fought in departments that have been honored with a foreign unit citation or unit award and who have received a ribbon as a sign of this, are allowed to wear these on Norwegian military uniform, but then separate from other ribbon stripes and located below these. Unit citations in the form of ribbons are not worn with medals. Examples of foreign unit citations given to Norwegian personnel: *
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation The Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation () is a military unit award of the government of South Korea that may be presented to South Korean military units, and foreign military units for outstanding performance in defense of the Republic o ...
, South Korea *
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...
, USA *
Navy Presidential Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...
, USA *
Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritori ...
, USA


No longer awarded

These obsolete awards are no longer approved on military uniform: *
The Royal Norwegian Order of the Norwegian Lion The Order of the Norwegian Lion was a Norwegian order of knighthood established by Oscar II of Sweden, King Oscar II on 21 January 1904, "in memory of the glorious events associated with Norway’s venerable Coat of arms of Norway, Coat of Arms".< ...
* Military cross with sword *
Military cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...
*
Armed Forces Medal for Heroic Deeds The Armed Forces Medal for Heroic Deeds (Forsvarets medalje for edel dåd) was instituted in 1982 for heroic deeds done while on active service for the Norwegian Defence Force. Description of the Medal * The obverse of the medal features the ...
with Golden Laurel Branch * PLANELM Medal, awarded to the Planning Element staff in
SHIRBRIG The Standby High-Readiness Brigade (SHIRBRIG) was a Danish-led initiative associated with the United Nations that aimed to create a standby force ready for peacekeeping. It was formed largely as a result of the genocide in Rwanda and other atroci ...
The Military cross, in both versions, are since 2014 no longer approved worn on military uniform. Personnel still serving got it converted to other medals. Similarly has the Medal for International Operations with Golden Laurel Branch been converted for personnel still serving. Approved worn on military uniform in the years 1961–1981: *
Norwegian Confederation of Sports The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports ( no, Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og paralympiske komité; NIF) is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in No ...
' 100 Years Anniversary Medal


See also

* List of Norwegian Honours awarded to Heads of State and Royals * List of honours of the Norwegian Royal Family by country


Notes


References


External links


Norwegian Royal House web page list of Norwegian medals

The Collection of Henrik Revens
Website features orders and medals of Norway as well as other Nordic countries.
The Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav












{{Decorations by country
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...