The Operational Service Medal (OSM) is the overall name given to a group of campaign medals awarded by the

British armed forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

. Introduced in 1999 to replace the General Service Medal, the OSM features a common design for the medal itself, with each one differentiated by a distinct

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

. As of , the Operational Service Medal has been awarded for four separate campaigns.

Medal and ribbon

The medal itself is circular, with an effigy of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID. DEF on the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

. The reverse has a design featuring the

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

, surrounded by a circlet bearing the inscription FOR OPERATIONAL SERVICE, on top of a four pointed star representing the four cardinal points of the compass; in between the points, in line with the

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

of the Union Flag, are four

coronet In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of ra ...

s, representing the Crown and the three armed services -

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

(top left),

Naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

(

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, top right),

Mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

(

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, bottom left), and

Astral Astral may refer to: Concepts of the non-physical * Astral body, a subtle body posited by many religious philosophers * Astral journey (or ''astral trip''), the same as having an ''out-of-body experience'' * Astral plane (AKA astral world), a p ...

(

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, bottom right). The ribbon for each version of the medal follows the same format, with a wide red bar in the centre, flanked on each side by navy blue, and then light blue bars, representing the three services, with on the edge bars of a unique colour - green (Sierra Leone),

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...

(Afghanistan),

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

(Democratic Republic of Congo), grey (Iraq and Syria).

Awards

OSM for Sierra Leone

The first OSM to be awarded was for service during

Operation Palliser The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone on 7 May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously, Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by B ...

, the United Kingdom's intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War from May 2000 to July 2002. No clasp was awarded, although personnel who took part in Operation Maidenly or

Operation Barras Operation Barras was a British Army operation that took place in Sierra Leone on 10 September 2000, during the late stages of the nation's civil war. The operation aimed to release six British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment and their ...

were entitled to add a silver rosette to their award.

OSM for Afghanistan

The OSM for Afghanistan was awarded for service as part of the

Afghan War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in t ...

, encompassing

Operation Veritas Operation Veritas was the codename used for British military operations against the Taliban government of Afghanistan in 2001. British forces played a supporting role to the American Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition, the British contributi ...

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assi ...

and

Operation Toral Operation Toral was the codename for the United Kingdom, British presence within Afghanistan post-2014 as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission. UK forces had two major tasks: training and mentoring Afghan Forces, and providing force protecti ...

, and other operations included under those overall missions. Recipients of the medal are eligible to be awarded the ''Afghanistan'' clasp if they have served in Afghanistan itself for a period of time (which varies depending on the operation), and the ''Operation Pitting'' clasp for personnel assigned to the 2021 evacuation of Kabul.

OSM for the Democratic Republic of Congo

The OSM for the Democratic Republic of Congo was awarded to all British personnel that served between June and September 2003 on Operation Coral, the British involvement in the French-led multinational peacekeeping mission to the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, during the latter stages of the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

. The medal was awarded with the ''DROC'' clasp to all recipients.

OSM for Iraq & Syria

The OSM for Iraq and Syria was awarded for service as part of

Operation Shader Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the contribution of the United Kingdom in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The operation involves the British Army providing ground su ...

, the UK's involvement in the

military intervention against ISIL A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. This medal is the first campaign medal to be awarded to personnel not physically serving in the area of operations, as crews operating

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

s on operations over Syria and Iraq were made eligible. Those personnel that do serve in the operational area itself are eligible to receive the ''Iraq & Syria'' clasp.

OSM for Bermuda

The OSM for Bermuda is to be awarded to

Royal Bermuda Regiment The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single Territorial Army (United Kingdom), territorial infantry battalion#British Army, battalion that was formed on the amalgamation ...

soldiers who have performed 30 days operational service in disaster relief efforts, humanitarian assistance, security or other emergency operations at any time since 1965 (when the

Bermuda Militia Artillery The Bermuda Militia Artillery was a unit of part-time soldiers organised in 1895 as a reserve for the Royal Garrison Artillery detachment of the Regular Army garrison in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. Militia Artillery units of the Un ...

and Bermuda Rifles amalgamated to form the unit), whether for internal security or other emergency operations on local service within the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

and former

Imperial fortress Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference, though by that point they had been so designated for decades. Later histor ...

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

or for overseas service (as the regiment has frequently deployed detachments to the West Indies to assist with post-hurricane relief).

References

{{British campaign medals British campaign medals