Military Decorations and Awards — Medals, Ribbons & Valor Recognition

The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military decoration — awarded by the President in the name of Congress to members of the armed forces who distinguish themselves through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Below it in the military decorations hierarchy sits an elaborate system of medals, ribbons, badges, and unit citations governed by 10 U.S.C. §§ 1121–1134 (Chapter 57), the relevant portions of Title 10 that authorize decorations, establish the criteria for valor awards, and govern who may wear what on a military uniform.

Military decorations serve multiple functions: they recognize and reward courageous or meritorious service, build unit espionage and morale, document service history on a uniform that communicates experience at a glance, and in some cases carry tangible financial benefits (the Medal of Honor pension, for example, provides recipients a monthly stipend above and apart from any military retirement pay).

Current Law (2026)

Legal Authority

• 10 U.S.C. § 1121 — Medal of Honor (President may award Medal of Honor to members of the armed forces who distinguish themselves by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, in actual combat against an enemy; criteria for each service branch established by respective Secretary)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1122 — Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Coast Guard Cross (second-highest valor award for each service; criteria and award authority)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1123 — Defense Distinguished Service Medal (Joint staff officers and others serving with joint commands who perform exceptionally meritorious service)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1124 — Meritorious service; award of decoration (Secretary of each military department may award decorations for meritorious service to members of the armed forces)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1125 — Recognition for accomplishments (Secretary may establish awards programs for non-combat accomplishments including technology innovations, energy efficiency, and other contributions)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1126 — Medal of Honor: additional pay (recipients receive additional monthly pay as Medal of Honor pension; listed in 37 U.S.C. § 132)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1127 — Posthumous wartime decorations (President may award decorations posthumously; presented to next of kin or designated representative)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1128 — Prisoner of war medal (awarded to any person taken prisoner while serving as a member of the armed forces)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1129 — Combat infantryman badge and combat medical badge: award during contingency operations (authorizes badges for qualifying service in contingency operations, not only declared wars)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1130 — Consideration of proposals for decorations not timely awarded (allows Congress to consider and direct the Secretary to review whether a decoration should be awarded for service that occurred beyond the normal time limit)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1131 — Purple Heart (awarded to members who are wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of a terrorist attack)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1132 — Presentation of decorations (procedures for formal presentation ceremonies; authorized representatives when recipient cannot be present)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1133 — Bronze Star (authorized for heroic or meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against an armed enemy)
• 10 U.S.C. § 1134 — Imprisonment for unauthorized wear of decoration (criminal penalties for unauthorized wear of military decorations; see also Stolen Valor Act)

How It Works

The Decoration Hierarchy

Military decorations are not equal — they form a strict precedence order governing the order ribbons are worn on a uniform, with valor awards (those recognizing battlefield heroism) outranking service awards (those recognizing career achievement). The basic hierarchy for personal decorations, from highest to lowest, runs:

Valor awards (battlefield courage):

1. Medal of Honor (all services)
2. Service Crosses: Distinguished Service Cross (Army), Navy Cross (Navy/Marines), Air Force Cross, Coast Guard Cross
3. Silver Star (all services — for gallantry in action)
4. Bronze Star with "V" device (indicating valor in action)
5. Purple Heart (for wounds received in combat)

Service awards (meritorious service):

• Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (without V), Meritorious Service Medal, and various commendation and achievement medals

Campaign and expeditionary medals: recognize participation in specific military operations (Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, etc.)

Service ribbons: ribbons worn for service in particular branches, theaters, or under specific conditions (National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, etc.)

Each service branch maintains its own additional decorations, and joint service decorations (awarded by the Secretary of Defense) have their own precedence that integrates with service-specific awards.

The Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the most significant military decoration in American law. It carries requirements that distinguish it from every other military award:

• Award authority: The President awards it in the name of Congress, not by service department authority
• Standard: The standard is "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty" — an extraordinarily high bar that reflects genuine risk of death in the face of the enemy
• Process: Nominations are initiated at the unit level, vetted through multiple layers of review including eyewitness statements and service department review, and ultimately presented to the President. The process often takes years.
• Special benefits: Medal of Honor recipients receive a special pension ($1,629.78/month in 2026, separate from and in addition to any military retirement pay), and may be buried at Arlington National Cemetery regardless of other criteria

Since the Civil War, approximately 3,500 Medals of Honor have been awarded. Modern awards are extremely rare — a handful per decade, mostly covering service in Iraq and Afghanistan after sometimes lengthy review processes.

The Purple Heart

The Purple Heart occupies a unique position in the decoration system — it is the only major decoration that is earned by being wounded or killed, not by demonstrating valor or exceptional service. The criteria require that:

• The member must be wounded or killed while serving in the military
• The wound must result from enemy action (including terrorist attack, friendly fire under certain circumstances, or improvised explosive devices)
• The wound must require treatment by a medical officer

PTSD and traumatic brain injury from blast exposure have been areas of ongoing policy debate for Purple Heart eligibility — the Department of Defense has generally not authorized the Purple Heart for PTSD alone because it requires a physical wound, though TBI from blast exposure has been authorized in many cases.

The Purple Heart comes with certain tangible benefits: eligibility for the Purple Heart Medal carries weight in benefits determinations and may qualify veterans for certain state benefits that recognize combat-wounded service.

Prisoner of War Medal

Any service member captured and held as a prisoner of war — in any conflict, from World War II through modern conflicts — is entitled to the Prisoner of War Medal under 10 U.S.C. § 1128. The medal applies to civilian employees of the armed forces and Department of Defense civilians who were captured as well. This medal carries its own ribbon and can be awarded posthumously.

Stolen Valor Act and Counterfeit Medal Prohibitions

The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 (18 U.S.C. § 704) makes it a federal crime to fraudulently represent oneself as having received the Medal of Honor, service crosses, Silver Star, Purple Heart, or other specified decorations with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit. The Supreme Court struck down the original Stolen Valor Act (2006) in United States v. Alvarez (2012) on First Amendment grounds, but the 2013 revision narrowed the law to require fraudulent intent to gain tangible benefit, which the Court had suggested would be constitutional.

Separately, 10 U.S.C. § 1134 and related statutes prohibit the unauthorized wear of military decorations by civilians or veterans who did not earn them.

Congressional Reviews of Overdue Decorations

Section 1130 provides a pathway for Congress to direct the Secretary of a military department to review whether a particular service member should receive a decoration for acts that occurred beyond the normal time limit for award. This provision has been used to upgrade decorations for veterans whose service was not appropriately recognized at the time — particularly for Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American veterans from World War II and Korea who were often denied valor awards due to racial discrimination. Several Medal of Honor upgrades from lower decorations in recent decades came through this process.

How It Affects You

If you are an active duty service member or recently separated veteran: Your awards and decorations appear in your Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) and on your DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) — the document that civilian employers, VA, and benefits programs use to verify your service and qualifications. Block 13 of the DD-214 lists decorations, medals, badges, and commendations. If a decoration is missing from your DD-214 that you believe you earned, you can request a correction through your service branch's records office or through the Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMR) — the process described in Military Records Correction. Accurate decoration records matter for: VA benefits claims (some ratings depend on documented combat service), federal employment veterans preference (certain preferences require documentation of specific service), and civilian employment where military service is a qualification or differentiator. The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) at archives.gov/veterans holds official service records and DD-214s — you can request copies online via eVetRecs at archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs if you need to verify or replace lost records. Don't wait for a benefits claim or job application to discover records are incomplete.

If you are a veteran seeking a decoration you believe was not properly awarded: Several pathways exist. If fewer than 3 years have passed since discharge, your unit chain of command may still be able to initiate the award. If more time has passed, Congress created a specific mechanism — 10 U.S.C. § 1130 — that allows members of Congress to refer decoration cases that were denied or not acted upon to the secretary of the relevant service branch for reconsideration. Contact your member of Congress's office (the military affairs staffer handles these requests) and ask them to submit a § 1130 inquiry; no special documentation is needed to initiate the referral. Veterans service organizations including the American Legion, VFW, and DAV have service officers who assist with decoration claims and can help gather supporting documentation. For Purple Hearts specifically, documentation requirements include: medical records showing the wound was received in action against a hostile force, unit records or witness statements, and the service member's official military personnel file. Missing records are common — the 1973 NPRC fire destroyed many Army and Air Force records from 1912-1964; the NPRC has reconstruction resources at archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/fire-1973.

If you're a family member of a deceased service member entitled to posthumous recognition: When a service member dies in action or is awarded a decoration posthumously, the decoration is presented to the next of kin at a formal military ceremony. The relevant service branch's casualty affairs office coordinates the presentation — Army Human Resources Command (hrc.army.mil), Navy Personnel Command, Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Air Force Personnel Center, or Coast Guard. If you believe a deceased family member was entitled to a decoration not shown in their records, the § 1130 and BCMR processes are available to next of kin as well as to veterans themselves. For Medal of Honor families specifically: posthumous recipients' next of kin are entitled to the special Medal of Honor pension that would have been paid to the recipient, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at cmohs.org supports families through this process and advocates for recognition programs.

If you suspect someone is falsely claiming military decorations they didn't earn: The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 (18 U.S.C. § 704) makes it a federal crime to fraudulently claim receipt of specific high-value decorations — the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Combat Infantryman Badge among others — with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit. Lies alone (without fraud) aren't federally criminal after United States v. Alvarez (2012), in which the Supreme Court struck down a broader Stolen Valor law as a First Amendment violation. FBI investigates criminal cases; report suspected fraud at tips.fbi.gov. For non-criminal suspected misrepresentation — a veteran claiming decorations on a resume or in a job application — This Ain't Hell (thankyourhero.org) and the Military Times Hall of Valor database (valor.militarytimes.com) are publicly searchable resources that document verified recipients of major awards, allowing comparison against official records.

State Variations

Military decorations are established under federal law and cannot be modified by states. However, many states have their own state military decorations and awards for members of state National Guard units performing state missions. Additionally, several states have created specific license plate or other recognition programs for Medal of Honor recipients and Purple Heart recipients.

Pending Legislation

No major pending changes to the decoration framework as of April 2026. Ongoing discussions in veterans advocacy communities continue about whether PTSD should qualify for Purple Heart eligibility, and about whether additional World War II veterans may warrant Medal of Honor reviews under § 1130.

Recent Developments

The Trump administration's 2025-2026 military policy changes affected several decoration-adjacent areas: executive actions on diversity and inclusion in the military led to the cancellation of certain unit commendations and awards that had been made as part of DEI initiatives, and there was a broader review of whether certain awards given in the 2021-2025 period met standard criteria. Separately, the Army conducted a review of Korean War-era Medal of Honor awards that had previously been downgraded due to documentation limitations, resulting in posthumous upgrades for several Korean War veterans.