The Somalia Medal (french: Médaille de la Somalie) was a
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 ...
created in 1992 by the
Canadian monarch
The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the found ...
-
in-Council to recognize members of the
Canadian Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
who had directly participated in
the international military coalition invasion to stabilize Somalia following the outbreak of
its civil war.
It is, within the
Canadian system of honours, the fourth highest of the
war and operational service medals.
Design
Designed by
Bruce W. Beatty
Bruce Wilbur Beatty, , (July 6, 1922 – March 21, 2011) was a Canadian graphic designer best known as being chiefly responsible for designing the emblems of the Canadian Honours System, starting with the badge of the Order of Canada in 1967. Th ...
, the Somalia Medal is in the form of a diameter
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
plated
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
medal with, on the obverse, three overlapping maple leaves between the word ''CANADA'' above (which the original design did not include) and two sprigs of
laurel leaves below. On the reverse is the
Royal Cypher of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
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 her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
surmounted by a
St. Edward's Crown
St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at Coronation of the British monarch, the ...
symbolizing the sovereign's roles as both
fount of honour The fount of honour ( la, fons honorum) is a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons.
Origin
During the High Middle Ages, ...
and
Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces
The commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces (french: Commandant en chef des Forces armées canadiennes) exercises supreme command and control over Canada's military, the Canadian Armed Forces. Constitutionally, the command-in-chief is ves ...
circumscribed by the words ''SOMALIA • 1992-93 • SOMALIE''.
This medallion is worn at the left chest, suspended on a 31.8mm wide ribbon coloured with vertical stripes with two in the shade of blue used by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
flanking a series in white (representing peace), sand (recalling the physical features of the theatre of operations), light blue (representing the
Air Command), scarlet (representing the
Land Force Command
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
), and dark blue (recalling the
Maritime Command
Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) is the central command of all NATO maritime forces and the Commander MARCOM is the prime maritime advisor to the Alliance. When directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), it provides the core of th ...
).
Eligibility and allocation
Though the
Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
-in-Council did not originally intend to issue a medal for the Somalia campaign, due to the
so called scandal that had taken place there,
on 8 April 1997, Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of her
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
under
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.
Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...
, created the Somalia Medal to recognize members of the
Canadian Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
who had served in the
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
of the
Somali Civil War
The Somali Civil War ( so, Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; ar, الحرب الأهلية الصومالية ) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the Military dictatorship, military junta wh ...
. To qualify for the medal, individuals had to have served for 90 days between 16 November 1992 and 30 June 1993 in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, or within 200 kilometers of the Somali coast, as a part of the operation to stabilize the country and offer humanitarian aid.
However, the requirements for the Somalia Medal were the first to specifically demand "honourable service", meaning that those members of
the Canadian Airborne Regiment
The Canadian Airborne Regiment (french: links=, Régiment aéroporté canadien) was a Canadian Forces formation created on April 8, 1968. It was not an administrative regiment in the commonly accepted British Commonwealth sense, but rather a tactic ...
involved in the murder of a Somali thief who tried breaking into the Canadian base were not among the total 1,408 medals that were issued.
The mission by Canada was referred to as Operation Deliverance, and there was only one tour there in Somalia. Unfortunately the one incident of the death of the Somali over shadowed all the heroic acts of bravery and good the Canadian soldiers achieved while on tour there .
See also
*
Canadian order of precedence (decorations and medals)
The following is the Canadian order of precedence for decorations and medals. Where applicable, post-nominal letters are indicated.
Awards of valour
National orders
Provincial orders
Territorial orders
National decorations
National de ...
References
Works cited
* {{cite book, last=McCreery, first=Christopher, authorlink=Christopher McCreery, title=The Canadian Honours System, publisher=
Dundurn Press
Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in print, ...
, location=Toronto, date=2005, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V5jmWNFPagIC, isbn=978-1-55002-554-5
Canadian campaign medals
United Nations operations in Somalia