Identifying British medal ribbons

Medals are heavy, fragile and often mounted; ribbons are flat, light and unmistakable once you know what you’re looking at. Most British and Commonwealth medals can be identified from the ribbon alone — here’s how to start.

The structure of a British medal ribbon

A standard British medal ribbon is 32 mm wide and made of moiré silk (or modern polyester). The colour pattern is designed to be unique to each medal — sometimes a single solid colour, more often two to five vertical stripes. Some have central emblems (rosettes, oak leaves, palms) to denote a particular award or campaign.

A few you’ll see often

• 1914–15 Star — rainbow ribbon (red, white, blue blending through the spectrum). Awarded for service in WW1 between 5 Aug 1914 and 31 Dec 1915.
• British War Medal (1914–18) — orange centre with white stripes edged in blue and black. Awarded for almost all WW1 British and Imperial service.
• Victory Medal (1914–19) — double rainbow, red in the centre. Always accompanies the British War Medal.
• 1939–45 Star — equal dark blue, red, light blue stripes. WW2 general service in the Army, Navy or Air Force.
• Defence Medal (1939–45) — flame-orange centre flanked by green and edged in narrow black stripes. Awarded for non-operational war service in the UK.
• War Medal (1939–45) — red-edged narrow blue, white, red (Union Jack pattern). Awarded for 28+ days WW2 service.

Where to look it up

For anything not on this short list, the most reliable references are British Battles and Medals (Spink) and the digital lookup at the Imperial War Museum. If you have a photograph and aren’t sure what you’re looking at, send it to us — we identify ribbons and medals for free, no obligation to sell or buy.

Buying and selling medals

See our medals department for what’s currently in stock, or our sister shop Collectors Centre Scarborough if you’re looking to sell.