The Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal (QVRM) was created by Royal Warrant of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on 29 March 1999. Only 13 Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medals may be awarded in a year (although it appears more have been issued in some years - as of 2018, more than the 13 were awarded in 8 of the medal's 20-year history: 19 medals were awarded in 2011; 16 in 2003 and 2000; 14 in 2018, 2017, 2013, 2009 and 2002). The medal is presented only to members of the Volunteer Reserves of the

British Armed Services The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...

for exemplary meritorious service in the conduct of their duties. The QVRM is a Level 3 award and ranks in military order of wear immediately after the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

. It is the first exclusive award to Volunteer Reserves that is presented at an

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian k ...

. The first awards were announced in the 1999

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

with these first awards presented at an investiture on 5 November 1999.

Medal

The medal is circular and made of silver coloured 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 ...

bears the sovereign's

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

surrounded by the inscription ''ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID DEF'' ( la, Elizabeth II by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith). The reverse depicts a scroll with the inscription ''The Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal''. The ribbon is dark green with three narrow gold stripes. Receipt of this medal is entitles the holder to use the

post-nominals Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

''QVRM''. There are no clasps awarded for this medal.

References

{{Decorations of the United Kingdom Military awards and decorations of the United Kingdom

Medal

See also

References