The Royal Victorian Medal (RVM) is a

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Othe ...

established by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in April 1896. On 14 May 1912, King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...

further confirmed the institution of the medal with an additional royal warrant. A part of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

, it is a reward for personal service to the Sovereign or the royal family, and is the personal gift of the sovereign. It differs from other grades of the order in appearance and in the way it is worn. The medal has three levels:

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 suc ...

, Silver and Gold ( silver gilt). Bars may be awarded to each level of Medal to denote subsequent awards. Recipients may continue to wear their original medal if they are awarded a higher level for further service. The medal may also be worn in addition to the badge of the Royal Victorian Order if this is later given to them. Recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters RVM.

History

In creating the Royal Victorian Order in 1896,

decided to make a medal a part of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

as well. This medal would be used to reward those who had rendered faithful service to the monarch and the royal family, but were not eligible to be appointed to any orders due to their position or class. This creation followed the precedent of other European monarchs who had royal household medals with which to reward servants. The first medals were received 7 July 1896 and were presented to Russians by the

Duke of Connaught Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...

while he was in Russia for the coronation of

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pol ...

. The medal has been historically used to recognise the service of police officers who work in protective services, gardeners, housekeepers, drivers, valets and other similar type staff. Non-commissioned members of the military may also be awarded the medal for services. The medal is often awarded for service to the monarch and royal family during royal visits. The medal may be looked upon as a long service medal, but the service must be of a meritorious character to warrant its award. Originally ranked near the end, the medal now ranks ahead of campaign, jubilee, efficiency, and long service medals in the United Kingdom Order of Wear. This gradual increase in importance was marked by the July 1980 approval, by Queen Elizabeth II, to allow the use of the postnominal RVM by recipients of the medal.

Description

The medal is circular, 28 mm in diameter, struck in bronze, silver, and silver-gilt for gold medals. 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, ...

bears the young effigy 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 her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. Surrounding the effigy is the inscription ''Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina F D''. The reverse depicts the royal cypher, surrounded by a wreath or ribbons and laurel leaves. A curled ribbon at the bottom bears the inscription, ''Royal Victorian Medal''. Attached by a ring suspension, the medal is borne by a blue ribbon with thin stripes of white and red on each edge. Awards to foreigners have a white central stripe. The ribbon is the same as that of the Royal Victorian Order. Additional awards of the medal are indicated by bars attached to the ribbon.

Precedence

Some orders of precedence are as follows:

References

External links

Governor General of Canada site about the RVM
{{Orders, decorations, and medals of Australia Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth

History

Description

Precedence

See also

References

External links