- Time Period: The Great War
- Institution: 21 February 1917
- Country: Belgium
The Commemorative Medal of the African Campaigns 1914–1917 (Médaille Commémorative des Campagnes d’Afrique 1914–1917 / Herinneringsmedaille van de Afrikaanse Veldtochten 1914–1917) is a Belgian military war service medal established on 21 February 1917 by Royal Decree to recognize combat service on the African continent between 1914 and 1918.
The medal was awarded in silver to Belgian military personnel and in bronze to indigenous personnel who participated in the campaigns in Cameroun, Rhodesia, German East Africa, and on the Eastern borders of the Belgian Congo (and in Tanganyika) between 1914 and 1918.
The medal was produced in two different variants:
- Type 1 (bearing the years 1914–1916 on the reverse), and
- Type 2 (bearing the years 1914–1917).
The 1914-1917 African Campaigns Commemorative Medal Design
The medal measures 31mm in diameter and is circular and struck in silver for Belgians or bronze for Africans. The award is surmounted by a 14mm wide by 12mm high royal crown and has raised edges on both the obverse and reverse.
The obverse bears the relief image of a lion, its front legs on a rocky outcropping, on the left side of the lion, the base of a mountain, on the right, tropical flora. Above it, there’s a small relief five-pointed star. On the reverse there’s the relief of a five-pointed star bisecting the years “1914*1916” (for the type 1 medal), or “1914*1917” (for the type 2). Three relief laurel branches, two horizontal and one vertical are partially hidden by the names of the localities where engagements were fought inscribed on nine lines, in all capital letters: Kamerun, Ouesso Assobam, Mulundu Jaunde, Afrique Orientale Allemande, Kigali, Nyansa Udjiji, Usumbura Biaramulo, Kitega St Michael and Tabora.
The ribbon is light blue 38mm wide silk moiré with 5mm wide yellow edge stripes, suspended by a ring through a suspension loop.
