The Operational Service Medal (french: Médaille du service opérationnel) is a

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a hig ...

created in 2010 by the Canadian monarch- in-Council to recognize members of the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Ai ...

, allied forces, Canadian police officers, or Canadian civilians working for the Canadian Forces who had directly participated in any

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...

under Canadian or allied command. It is, within the Canadian system of honours, the lowest of the war and operational service medals.

Design

The Operational Service Medal is in the form of a diameter

cupro-nickel Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. ( Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a ...

disc with, on the obverse, the words ''ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

abbreviation for: Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen) and ''CANADA'' separated by small

maple leaves The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along t ...

and surrounding an

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

wearing a Canadian

diadem A diadem is a type of Crown (headgear), crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Ancient Greek, Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", fr ...

of maple leaves and snowflakes, symbolizing her roles as both fount of honour and

Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces The commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces (french: Commandant en chef des Forces armées canadiennes) exercises supreme command and control over Canada's military, the Canadian Armed Forces. Constitutionally, the command-in-chief is ves ...

. On the reverse is a representation of the

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

resting above two crossed branches of laurel and oak leaves and surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown that is flanked on both sides by three maple leaves on a single stem. This medallion is worn at the left chest, suspended on a 31.8mm wide ribbon with thin, vertical stripes in Canada's official colours of red and white flanking a central band; the colour of the middle band reflects the specific

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

or task for which the medal is being awarded: sand for South-West Asia, light green for

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, royal blue for

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, dark green for Sudan, white for Humanitas and light grey for Expedition.

Eligibility and presentation

On 5 July 2010, Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of her

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

, created the Operational Service Medal to recognize members of the

, allied foreign forces, Canadian police officers, or Canadian civilians working for the Canadian Forces who had served full-time in the

of war or

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United ...

, or participated in the support of such missions. The medal was first presented on 6 December 2010.

References

{{Canadian Honours System Canadian campaign medals 2010 establishments in Canada Awards established in 2010

Design

Eligibility and presentation

See also

References