Medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc of metal, carrying a design on both sides. They have a commemorative purpose of some kind, many are given as awards, they may be suspended from clothing or jewellery in some way. They are traditionally struck like a coin by dies. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for sporting, scientific, academic, or various other achievements. Military awards and decorations are more precise terms for certain types of state decoration. Medals may be created for sale to commemorate particular individuals or events, or as works of artistic expression in their own right. In the past, medals commissioned for an individual with their portrait, were used as a form of diplomatic or personal gift, with no sense of being an award for the conduct of the recipient. An artist who creates medals or medallions is called a "medalist". Medals have long been popular collectible items, in numismatics form a class called either exonumia or militaria.
In the proper use of the term, medallions are larger, starting at four inches across, are, as such too large to be worn comfortably, though in colloquial use, "medallion" is used to refer to a medal used as the pendant of a necklace, or for other types of medals. Medallions may be called "table medals" because they are too large to be worn and can only be displayed on a wall, table top, desk, or cabinet. Numismatists divide medals into at least seven classes: Awards: awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for sporting, scientific, academic, or various other achievements. Military awards and decorations are more precise terms for certain types of state decoration. Military decorations are in shapes such as crosses or stars, but are still loosely called "medals", as in the star-shaped American Medal of Honor. Commemoratives: created for sale to commemorate particular individuals or events, or as works of medallic art in their own right. Souvenirs: similar to a commemorative, but more focused on a place or event like state fairs, museums, historic sites, etc. and found for sale within their respective souvenir shops.
Religious: devotional medals may be worn for religious reasons. Portraits: produced to immortalize a person with their portrait. Artistic: made purely as an art object. Plaquettes are of this type. Society Medals: made for societies used as a badge or token of membership. First attested in English in 1578, the word medal is derived from the Middle French médaille, itself from Italian medaglia, from the post-classical Latin medalia, meaning a coin worth half a denarius; the word medallion has the same ultimate derivation, but this time through the Italian medaglione, meaning "large medal". There are two theories as for the etymology of the word medalia: the first being that the Latin medalia itself is derived from the adjective medialis meaning "medial" or "middle". Traditionally medals are stamped with dies on a durable metal flan or planchet, or cast from a mould; the imagery, which includes lettering, is in low relief. Circular medals are most common; the "decoration" types use other shapes crosses and stars.
These in particular come with a suspension loop, a wide coloured ribbon with a clip at the top, for attaching to clothing worn on the chest. The main or front surface of a medal is termed the obverse, may contain a portrait, pictorial scene, or other image along with an inscription; the reverse, or back surface of the medal, is not always used and may be left blank or may contain a secondary design. It is not uncommon to find only an artistic rendering on the obverse, while all details and other information for the medal are inscribed on the reverse; the rim is found only employed to display an inscription such as a motto, privy mark, engraver symbol, assayer’s marking, or a series number. Medals that are intended to be hung from a ribbon include a small suspension piece at the crest with which to loop a suspension ring through, it is through the ring that a ribbon is folded so the medal may hang pendent. Medals pinned to the breast use only a small cut of ribbon, attached to a top bar where the brooch pin is affixed.
Top bars may be hidden under the ribbon so they are not visible, be a plain device from which the ribbon attaches, or may be decorative to complement the design on the medal. Some top bars are contain a whole design unto themselves. Bronze has been the most common material employed for medals, due to its fair price range, ease with which to work when casting, the ample availability However, a wide range of other media have been used. Rarer metals have been employed, such as silver and gold, when wishing to add value beyond the mere artistic depiction, as well as base metals and alloys such as copper, iron, lead, zinc and pewter. Medals that are made with inexpensive material might be gilded, silver-plated, chased, or finished in a variety of other ways to improve their appearance. Medals have been made of rock, ivory, porcelain, terra cotta
Elizabeth Cross
The Elizabeth Cross is a commemorative emblem given to the recognised next of kin of members of the British Armed Forces killed in action or as a result of a terrorist attack after the Second World War. It bears the name of the current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. Designed by Dayna White of Birmingham jewellers Gladman & Norman Ltd, the award is made of sterling silver in the shape of a cross backed by a representation of a laurel wreath, carries floral emblems of England, Scotland and Wales, an appearance similar to the earlier Canadian Memorial Cross; the trial crosses, the first few to be issued, were made by Gladman & Norman. Families receive a large version of the cross, a pin-on miniature, together with a Memorial Scroll signed by The Queen which bears the name of the person who died; the scroll bears the words: This scroll commemorates who gave his/her life for Queen and country on the day of The words were chosen by the previous Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, approved by the Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup and the three service chiefs.
The award was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 July 2009, but eligibility is retrospective to deaths from the end of the Second World War. For those who died in the First World War relatives were presented with a memorial scroll and bronze plaque, for Second World War and Korean War deaths, relatives received a scroll; the creation of the award was announced in a written statement to the House of Commons by Secretary of State for Defence Bob Ainsworth on 1 July, in a broadcast on the British Forces Broadcasting Service made by the Queen. The idea for a new award was first approved on 10 June 2008, it was expected that the details would be confirmed that year; the formal Royal Warrant under the Royal Sign Manual establishing the Elizabeth Cross, dated 1 July 2009, was gazetted on 31 July 2009. Among other things, the Royal Warrant states that relatives of members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will be eligible to receive the award; the first crosses were issued by the Ministry of Defence Medal Office at Imjin Barracks, Innsworth on 1 August 2009.
Next of kin have the choice of a public presentation by the local Lord Lieutenant or a senior officer, or a private ceremony. Only the recognised next of kin receive the cross and miniature, but other relatives are able to request the issue of additional scrolls. Awards for those killed since 2000 are processed automatically by the Ministry of Defence, relatives of those killed earlier have to contact the MoD themselves. Relatives of those killed in Korea will have received a scroll, so are presented with the cross only; the first public presentation of an Elizabeth Cross was on 18 August 2009 in a ceremony at Catterick Garrison. It was awarded to Karen Upton, the widow of Warrant Officer Sean Upton, killed while on active service in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, it was presented by the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, the Lord Crathorne, the Master Gunner, St. James's Park, General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman; the first presentations of the Elizabeth Cross to be made by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 12 September 2009.
The precise eligibility requirements issued by the Ministry of Defence are: Those who died from whatever cause whilst serving on a medal earning operation. Medal earning operations are those in which deployed personnel received a Campaign Medal, General Service Medal or Operational Service Medal which demonstrated the risk and rigour involved. Operations where a UN, NATO or other international body or other nations' campaign medal was accepted for wear, in the absence of a UK medal qualify; those who died as a result of an act of terrorism where the available evidence suggests that the Service person, whether on or off duty, was targeted because of his or her membership of the UK Armed Forces. Those who died on a non-medal earning operational task where death has been caused by the inherent high risk of the task; those who died a subsequent and premature death as a result of an injury or illness attributed to the circumstances outlined above. The service must have been undertaken on or after 1 January 1948 in general, or after 27 September 1945 in Palestine.
In accordance with the Royal Warrant establishing the Elizabeth Cross, it is awarded upon recommendation made to the Queen by the Secretary of State for Defence. Thus, the judgement concerning the fulfilment of the eligibility requirements in any particular case is made by the Ministry of Defence, the formal award of the Elizabeth Cross is ordered by the Queen upon the advice of the Defence Secretary; as directed by the Royal Warrant, the names of all those who are commemorated with the award of the Elizabeth Cross are recorded in a Registry kept by the Ministry of Defence. In accordance with the Royal Warrant that established the Elizabeth Cross, the Cross and its miniature version may be worn by the recipient at that person's discretion. Up to May 2010, 232 Elizabeth Crosses and Memorial Scrolls have been issued to the families of The Ulster Defence Regiment CGC personnel whose deaths are attributed to their military service. Up to November 2010, 37 applications linked to The Ulster Defence Regiment CGC for the Elizabeth Cross have failed due to the following reasons: 22 died of natural causes whilst off duty 7 were killed in road accidents whilst off duty 4 were accidental deaths whilst off duty 2 died outside the Northern Ireland operational area 2 died after they were discharged from service.
Since the Second World War New Zealand has
Veterans Affairs Canada
Veterans Affairs Canada is the department within the Government of Canada with responsibility for pensions and services for war veterans and still-serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, their families, as well as some civilians. Following World War I, in 1928, the Departments of Pensions and National Health became responsible for caring for ill and injured soldiers returning from that war. Following World War II, the volume of soldiers returning home made it clear that the Government of Canada would require a department dedicated to serving ill and injured veterans; this first came by changing the department to the "Department of Pensions" and creating Health Canada under a separate Ministry. That same year, Prime Minister Mackenzie King's Parliament passed a motion that created Veterans Affairs Canada. Canada operated a benefits program similar to the American G. I. Bill for its World War II veterans, with a strong economic impact similar to the American case.
A war veteran's eligibility for certain benefits depended on the veteran's "overseas" status, defined by Veterans Affairs as having served at least two miles offshore from Canada. In the Second World War Canada did not yet include Newfoundland, which became a Canadian province only in 1949, thus World War I or World War II veterans who served in Newfoundland are considered by Veterans Affairs to be "overseas veterans". In the late 1970s, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau undertook an initiative to decentralize government away from Ottawa, he and his Minister of Veterans Affairs, Daniel J. MacDonald devised the plan to move the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs from Ottawa to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; the department's head office has been located in the Daniel J. MacDonald Building in PEI's capital since. In the early 21st century, a second building two blocks from the DJM called the Jean Canfield Building, was constructed to house other federal government offices, including some from Veterans Affairs Canada.
The department has become a major economic contributor to PEI, has had an important impact on Charlottetown's cultural landscape. Veterans Affairs Canada is the only major federal department whose headquarters is located outside of Ottawa; the department is responsible for medical care, rehabilitation and disability pensions and awards for Veterans. Appeals from departmental decisions on disability pensions and awards are presented by Veterans to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. In 2007, the Veterans' Bill of Rights was passed by the Harper government; the bill included a statement. In October 2010, federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart found that a veteran's privacy had been violated by VAC, she found that the confidential medical information of Sean Bruyea, a medically-released Captain, had found its way into the hands of numerous departmental officials, which she said was "deeply concerning" and a violation of the Privacy Act. Bruyea's information was leaked after his criticisms of the New Veterans Charter and the way Afghanistan veterans were being treated by the government.
The Government of Canada apologized for its privacy breach and settled a $400,000 privacy breach suit in November 2010. In 2018, controversy arose when it was discovered that convicted murderer, Christopher Garnier, was receiving Veterans Affairs Canada funded treatment for post tramatic stress disorder. Garnier had been convicted of the 2015 murder of off-duty Police Constable Catherine Campbell in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the controversy stemmed from the fact Garnier had never served in the Canadian armed forces or RCMP and the PTSD was said to be brought on by the murder for which he was convicted. Garnier was eligible for Veterans Affairs Canada benefits as his father had served in the armed forces; the Canada Remembers program is responsible for all war commemoration activities, such as Remembrance Day, coordinates and funds various "pilgrimages" for Canadian war veterans to foreign battlefields and international ceremonies. The Government of Canada declared 2005 the Year of the Veteran, its purpose was to teach, thank and celebrate.
The image of a poppy overlapping a gold maple leaf became a special symbol during the campaign, on posters, pamphlets and documents. On November 9, 2008, the Honourable Greg Thompson, the-then Minister of Veterans Affairs, attended a Service of Remembrance at the Canada Memorial in Green Park, England, which Canada had assumed responsibility for. Veterans Affairs Canada Army and Air Force Veterans in Canada Department of National Defence & the Canadian Armed Forces Royal Canadian Legion National Council of Veterans Associations Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping Canadian Veterans Advocacy Gulf War Veterans Association of Canada Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association NATO Veterans Organization of Canada VeteransofCanada.ca VeteranVoice.info Veterans UN-NATO Canada Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans’ Associatio
Order of Nunavut
The Order of Nunavut is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Instituted in 2010 it is the highest honour, it is intended to honour former residents of the territory. The Order was created by the passage of the Order of Nunavut Act in late 2009; the award is modeled on the other Orders of the Canadian Provinces. Inductees are entitled to use the postnominal letters "O. Nu.". A maximum of three individuals may be inducted by the Commissioner of Nunavut each year. An advisory committee consisting of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, the Senior Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice and the President of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. Like other Provincial Orders active politicians and judges cannot be appointed to the Order while in office. Like the National Order of Quebec the award is presented in the territories Parliament. Although the Commissioner of the territory bestows the award, he or she is automatically a member of the Order ex-officio; the following is a list a Members of the Order: Chancellors/CommissionersAnn Meekitjuk Hanson Edna Elias Nellie Kusugak 2011Rev.
Michael Gardener Mark Kalluak Jose Amaujaq Kusugak2012Kenojuak Ashevak Charlie Panigoniak2013Jimmy Akavak Louis Angalik, Sr. Davidee Arnakak2014John Amagoalik2015Tagak Curley William Lyall Fr. Robert Lechat2016Louie Kamookak Ellen Hamilton Red Pedersen2017Betty Brewster Ludy Pudluk2018Zacharias Kunuk Order of Nunvut Act
Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada
The orders and medals of Canada comprise a complex system by which Canadians are honoured by the country's sovereign for actions or deeds that benefit their community or the country at large. Modelled on its British predecessor, the structure originated in the 1930s, but began to come to full fruition at the time of Canada's centennial in 1967, with the establishment of the Order of Canada, has since grown in both size and scope to include dynastic and national orders, state and military decorations; the monarch in right of each Canadian province issues distinct orders and medals to honour residents for work performed in just their province. The provincial honours, as with some of their national counterparts, grant the use of post-nominal letters and or supporters and other devices to be used on personal coats of arms; the monarch is regarded as the fount of all honours—as he or she is the only person who may create new national honours—and acts as the Sovereign of all of Canada's orders. In Canada, the monarch is represented by the governor general, who carries out investitures and distributes awards in the sovereign's name.
As such, the administration of the honours system is carried out by the Chancellery of Honours at Government House, a part of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General of Canada. The governor general sets out via Order in Council the order of precedence for the wearing of insignia and medals. Provincial and territorial honours are awarded by their respective Lieutenant governors or Commissioners. Since as far back as the reign of King Louis XIV, the monarchs that reigned over colonies in New France, British North America, present-day Canada have bestowed royal honours and medals on those living under their sovereignty, in recognition of their services to the state. Early Governors of New France desired to establish local honours in or import European honours to Canada; the Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis, established by King Louis XIV in 1693 to honour worthy French, Catholic military officers, came to be one of the most familiar honours in New France. Appointments into the order continued after the transfer of New France to the British Crown in 1763.
After the creation of British North America, Canadians were entitled to receive British imperial honours, though the awarding of these was not allowed. From Confederation until the Nickle Resolution in 1919, the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George served as the equivalent of today's Order of Canada, being the highest non-peerage honour available to Canadian politicians and civil servants. Appointments into the Order of the British Empire, into grades below those that carried a title, were commonly made. Besides knighthoods, peerage titles were bestowed on Canadians, sometimes with uniquely Canadian designations—such as Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe and Baron Beaverbrook of Beaverbrook in the Province of New Brunswick and of Cherkley in the County of Surrey—and permitted those so honoured to sit in the House of Lords at Westminster; such acts of recognition were carried out by the reigning British monarch. Prior to Confederation, the sovereign did so on the advice of the British prime minister, the names of those to be honoured either selected by the colonial governor or governor general in British North America and passed on to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the prime minister, by the Secretary of State for the Colonies and passed on to the prime minister, or by the prime minister himself.
The British government felt no obligation to consult any government in British North America before bestowing an honour upon any resident of the colonies. Following Confederation, the Prime Minister of Canada submitted a list of names to the monarch via the governor general, though the governor general continued to recommend individuals for honours without the Canadian prime minister's knowledge; this practice came into question in 1901, when Governor General the Earl of Minto nominated Thomas Shaughnessy for a knighthood after Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier expressed his opposition to the idea, leading Laurier in the following year to draft a policy whereby all nominees for honours be approved by the prime minister before being forwarded to Westminster. The public began to suspect the worthiness of those receiving the knighthoods and elevations to the peerage. After it was revealed in 1917 that British Prime Minister David Lloyd George had been selling peerage titles and knighthoods to raise money for his political party, the awarding of such distinctions in Canada ceased.
Thereafter, the House of Commons of Canada in 1917 and 1919 passed the Nickle Resolutions, though never binding cemented the cease of titular awards to Canadians. The end of the conferment of imperial hono
Nichola Goddard
Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, MSM was the first female Canadian combat soldier killed in combat, the 16th Canadian soldier killed in Canadian operations in Afghanistan. Born to British and Canadian school teachers in Madang, Papua New Guinea, Goddard spent most of her childhood in various locations, including Black Lake and Lac la Ronge, Saskatchewan, she attended junior high in Edmonton and high school in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Nicknamed "Carebear", by her ski team in Nova Scotia, her hobbies included cross-country skiing and running, she had competed in biathlon events, she led a local Scout troop with her fiancé, Jason Beam, while they were officer cadets at the Royal Military College, in Kingston and owned two dogs and two cats. Captain Goddard arrived in Afghanistan in January 2006, had been serving with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry as a forward observation officer at the time of her death, she was "known as a forceful and secure commander whose troops were loyal".
Goddard was killed on May 2006, during a firefight in the Panjwaye District. It was part of a joint two-day operation between Canadian and Afghan troops, to secure Kandahar's outskirts after a rumor of Taliban preparations to launch an assault on the city; as troops were moving into a mosque to capture 15 alleged Taliban members, several dozen hidden militants began firing from neighbouring houses. As a crew commander, Goddard was standing half-exposed in her LAV III, hit by two rocket-propelled grenades early in the battle; the battle lasted most of the day on the 17th and into the night, ended shortly after an American B-1 Lancer dropped a 500lbs bomb. In the end, the two-day operation saw Goddard, an Afghan National Army soldier, 40 Taliban killed, as well as 20 Taliban captured, which early reports mistakenly said could have included Mullah Dadullah. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the first to mention the death, opening a Parliamentary debate hours stating that he wasn't certain it was a "first" female combat death for Canada, that he would not release her name until her family had been notified.
General Richard Hillier, former chief of defence staff wrote in his autobiography A Soldier First: Bullets and the Politics of War, that officials in the Prime Minister's Office ordered the military to hide the return to Canada of Captain Nichola Goddard because they did not want her flag-draped coffin seen on the news. The family arranged for a public funeral at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Calgary, held on Friday May 26, 2006, it was announced that her husband Jason Beam would be the first widower to receive the Memorial Cross. The Memorial Cross has traditionally been presented to mothers of Canadian war dead, she was posthumously awarded the Meritorious Service Medal on Oct 27, 2006 After Goddard's death, policies have changed on the traditions of presenting the Memorial Cross to widows or mothers of the ones killed. Now, members of the Canadian Forces are required to choose, she was posthumously awarded the Sacrifice Medal on Monday, November 9, 2009. Sacrifice Medals are awarded to members of the Canadian Forces and those who work with them who have been wounded or killed by hostile action and to Canadian Forces members who died as a result of service.
There is a middle school in Calgary, Alberta named after her: Captain Nichola Goddard School. Nichola Goddard’s name was etched on the Memorial Arch at Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario Classmates and Friends of Capt. Nichola Goddard at Royal Military College of Canada remembered her in the e-veritas alumni magazine Light Up Papua New Guinea is an international development project by the University of Calgary’s Light Up the World Foundation and the family of Capt. Nichola Goddard in her honour; the goal is for nearly 2,000 non-polluting solar-powered lighting systems in first aid posts will replace hazardous kerosene lamps. Captain Nichola K. S. Goddard Memorial Scholarship Fund Nichola Goddard's name was added to the Scouts Canada Loyalist Area Memorial Wall at Camp Otter Lake for those Scouters who have "Gone Home" Trig Goddard. In November 2006, her colleagues at CFB Shilo dedicated a trig marker on the base to Nichola in a ceremony attended by more than 600 soldiers. Trig Goddard would serve as a constant reminder of Nichola’s sacrifice.
Captain Sean Tremblay wrote, “By naming one of these markers after Nichola we will be using the memory of our friend, of her sacrifice, to help us fix our path as we try to make moral decisions just actions, to guide us and help us keep doing what is good and right.” SUNRAY: The Death and Life of Captain Nichola Goddard, by Valerie Fortney. P. 302. / ISBN 1-55470-300-X / ISBN 978-1-55470-300-5 A tree was planted in memory of Captain Nichola Goddard at Fish Creek Provincial Park. The Captain Nichola Goddard Memorial Trophy awarded to the top CF Women's Soccer Team performing in the CF regional tournament. Captain Nichola K. S. Goddard Memorial Sword is presented to the best Regular Officer Training Plan artillery senior cadet at Royal Military College of Canada to carry in their fourth year, her death inspired Canadian band The Trews to write their song "Highway of Heroes." Her high school, Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School, has a memorial plaque hung in the main foyer in memory and honour.
A Canadian Coast Guard mid-shore patrol vessel was named after her. There is a new middle school in Calgary, Alberta, named C
Order of Yukon
The Order of Yukon is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian territory of Yukon. Instituted in 2018, it is the highest honour, it is intended to honour former residents of the territory. Prior the creation of the Order of Yukon, an unofficial order, the Order of Polaris, was created in 1973 to celebrate members of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame but was not part of the Canadian honours system; when the Order of the Northwest Territories was created in 2015, the Yukon remained the only province or territory in Canada without a domestic order. The Order of Yukon was first proposed following public consultation; the Order was created by the passage of the Order of Yukon Act in 2018. The award is modeled on the other Orders of the Canadian Provinces. Inductees are entitled to use the postnominal letters "O. Y." Potential members are recommended to the Chancellor by an advisory council consisting of the Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Yukon Supreme Court, Secretary of the Executive Council of Yukon, the president of Yukon College, two individuals chosen by the chancellor, one individual chosen by the Council of Yukon First Nations.
Although the Commissioner of the territory bestows the award, he or she is an ex officio member member as the Order's chancellor. Chancellors/CommissionersAngélique Bernard The Order of Yukon has not yet been awarded to nominated individuals. Order of Yukon Act Official website
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