The NATO Medal

Time Period: Post-WW2 Period
Year of Institution: January 2015
Country: NATO militaries (Belgium, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, etc).

The NATO Medal is an international military decoration established in 1996 and awarded to various militaries under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The medal was instituted to recognize individuals who had served in Former Yugoslavia in the Implementation Force (IFOR) as part of Operation Joint Endeavor. In 1999, a new ribbon was introduced for participants in Operation Allied Force in Kosovo and, later, further ribbons were established for each NATO operation as they became more common.

The NATO Medal Design

There are currently 14 versions of the NATO Medal:

One medal design for service in the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, and North Macedonia.
Two medal designs for service during Article 5 operations (Eagle Assist, Active Endeavour).
Eight medal designs for Non-Article 5 NATO operations (International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan or ISAF, Resolute Support, Balkans, NATO Training Mission-Iraq or NTM-I, Africa, AMIS, OUP-Libya, and Pakistan).

NATO settled on three ribbon styles in early 2003. There is one for the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, one for Article 5 operations, and one for non-Article 5 operations.