South Vietnamese Armed Forces Honour Medal, First Class Accession Number: RELAWM41029.011

Description

South Vietnamese Armed Forces Honour Medal, First Class. This decoration was originally known as 'La Medaille du Merite Vietnamien', and was intended for French or foreign advisors to the Vietnamese forces. The medal is a gilded crosswith flame type arms with additional points between the arms. A central disc depicts a coiled dragon within a thin band which contains the raised words 'DANH-DU BOI-TINH VIET-NAM'. The reverse is plain apart from an impressed disc in the centre. Suspension is by a large rectangular bar, the upper verticals of which are bent back at about 45 degrees. On the lower horizontal is a laurel wreath from which the medal hangs. The ribbon is yellow, with 5 mm red bands located 2mm in from each edge and three 3 mm light blue bands 3 mm apart in the centre. This ribbon appears to be a variation on that normally supplied, in which the red bands were carried to the edge.

Contextual Description

The Armed Forces Honor Medal was a military decoration of South Vietnam that was first created in 1953. The medal was awarded in 1st and 2nd class grades and reached its height of bestowals during the Vietnam War years. The medal was also one of the more commonly award medals to members of foreign militaries and was frequently bestowed to members of the United States Armed Forces.

The Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal was awarded to any member of the military who actively contributed to the formation and organization of the Vietnamese military and who actively participating in cadre training of Vietnamese units. The medal was awarded for non-combat service and was comparable to the United States military award of the Commendation Medal.

The first class medal was awarded to commissioned officers and the second class medals were awarded to warrant officers and enlisted personnel. The two grades of the Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal were distinguished by the medal's medallion, gold for 1st class and silver for 2nd class. The medal's suspension and service ribbons for the 2 grades were distinguished by a yellow and red pattern for the 1st class and two red patterns until the end of each side of the ribbon for the 2nd class. Also, the vertical ribbon stripes of the 1st class were light blue, while the vertical ribbon stripes of the second class were greenish. The first class medal was awarded to commissioned officers while the second class was bestowed upon warrant officers and enlisted personnel.

The South Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal is considered obsolete.
Eighty eight Armed Forces Honour Medals First Class were awarded to Australian officers and warrant officers for contributions to the training and organisation of the South Vietnamese Armed Forces. However, permission for them to be worn was not granted by the Australian Government until the late 1990s. Forty two Second Class Medals to warrant officers and Other Ranks were also awarded.