The Commemorative Medal for Operations in Defense of the Territory

• Time Period: Post-WW2
• Institution: 28 March 2018
• Country: Belgium

The Commemorative Medal for Missions or Operations regarding the operational defense of the territory (Médaille commémorative pour les missions ou opérations relatives à la défense opérationnelle du territoire / Herinneringsmedaille voor de opdrachten of operaties met betrekking tot de operationele verdediging van het grondgebied) is a military decoration of Belgium established on 28 March 2018 and is awarded to military and civilian members of the Belgian Armed Forces who participated in operations related to the defense of the Belgian territory or who provided specialized support to such operations for a minimum duration of 30 days.

In order to be eligible for the award, personnel must have shown exemplary behavior during the operation.

The Commemorative Medal for Operations in Defense of the Territory Design

The medal is circular and struck from bronze.

The obverse of the medal bears the Escutcheon-only version of the Coat of arms of Belgium under the royal crown and surrounded by the text “MISSIONS OU OPERATIONS INTERIEURES BINNENLANDSE OPDRACHTEN OF OPERATIES”. The reverse bears a laurel crown along the outer circumference. The blank area within the wreath may be used to engrave the recipients’ name and date of the award.

The ribbon is golden with three thin longitudinal stripes of black, yellow and red in the middle and adorned with an Arabic numeral that denotes the number of operations or missions the recipient has participated in.