Themes

Understanding naval medals

You may have a medal at home that originally belonged to someone who served in the Royal Navy during the 20th century.

This section describes some of the most commonly awarded medals granted to service personnel and should help to explain what type of medal you have.

Our interactive can help you identify parts of a medal and their significance

(Please put interactive here Michael)

Medal Categories

Service personnel have received many different types of medal over the course of the 20th century. Medals divide most commonly into several categories - orders, decorations, gallantry, campaign, long service, and meritorious service.

This section will focus on some examples of gallantry , campaign and service medals.

Follow the links on the left hand side to find out more about each particular medal