I am more curious as to what is the ribbon doing on the bar - the bar could be a fake or it could've belonged to a veteran, who didn't care about the regulations.
Quote:Originally posted by Mahdi
Medal for 10 Years of Irreproachable Service
Medal for 15 Years of Irreproachable Service
Medal for 20 Years of Irreproachable Service
I think you have these in reversed order. The medals for longer service have higher precedence. Other than that, nice list!
Sooner or later Im sure I will have to buy a ribbon and attach it to a 5 sided suspension. Does anyone know of any tutorials on the net showing how to do this or have any tips? Im sure I could work it out but I dont want to damage the suspension trying.
10-21-2002, 08:32 PM (This post was last modified: 10-22-2002, 12:39 AM by ibaya.)
Thread the ribbon so that the right half overlaps the left. This ensures that the ribbon properly "drapes" over others when the medal was worn with others in a row.
Some medal ribbons have been put on the other way around. This can be because of sloppiness during the replacement of the ribbon, and/or if the wearer just didn't care!
It would be a good idea, during your first time, to have a ribboned medal lying face down for reference. Thread the ribbon through the frame, and tuck the ends under the crimping slot, and pull them until the ribbon is loosely fitted on the frame. Turn over and compare. If you're satisfied with the results, tug on the ends for a final fit, then secure the ribbon with a crimp. I find that tugging on the lower ribbon end first works best, since pulling on the upper end will also further tighten both ends from friction. I also play with the fit of the ribbon, to make sure that the entire frame is covered, and that the ribbon doesn't bunch up at the suspension ring.
I made an interesting discovery regarding one of those nagging issues for collectors of Soviet and Russian medals: why do some medals have a 5-sided suspension while others have a rectangular? For modern Russian medals, the answer was provided in a back-issue (No.3/2000) of the journal Tseikhgauz that I recently obtained.
According to the article, an important decision regarding the future of all Ministry (and other organizational level) awards was reached in April 1999. Until this time, two key individuals -- the State Heraldry Chief and the Chief of the Presidential Directorate of State Awards -- held that only state level awards should have 5-sided suspensions. All other awards were not allowed to use them. This has been evident in Frontier Guard Service medals for service in the Caucasus & Tadjikistan, and even the Railroad Troops 10, 15 and 20 year service medals -- all are on rectangular suspensions. A compromise solution was reached which specified that governmental ministries and organizations could award medals with 5-sided suspensions as long as the ribbons were in compliance with an approved color scheme. For the Ministry of Defense, Orange must be the dominant color (taking up about half the width of the ribbon).