The Uththama Pooja Pranama Padakkama (Medal of Honour for Supreme Sacrifice) ( Sinhala: උත්තම පූජා ප්‍රණාම පදක්කම ''uṭama pūjā pranāma padakkama'') is the medal presented to the

next of kin A person's next of kin (NOK) may be that person's spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific righ ...

of all servicepersons of the

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and

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

of Sri Lanka in recognition of a serviceperson's death in the line of duty. It is awarded to the families of personnel confirmed

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missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...

Design

The medal is gold-plated metal circular in shape, suspended from a blue ribbon. The obverse face holds at its center an outline of the Sri Lankan island mass incised in its center with an engraved form of a male soldier holding a weapon with his left hand, and the right raised in triumph. The engraving is meant to symbolize a lack of life, indicating the death of the serviceperson. The figure stands on a pair of upraised hands from below, symbolizing his/her family and their support and encouragement contributing to the serviceperson's sacrifice. Both faces of the medal are bordered by stylized

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along the edge, meant to symbolize the brighter future the individual ensured for their nation with their sacrifice. The obverse holds the

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with the Sinhala inscription ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය (Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) engraved in a half circle at the bottom of the medal.

Award process

The medal has thus far been awarded by the Secretary to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Award regulations stipulate that the medal be awarded jointly to the spouse, children and parents of a dead or missing serviceperson should he/she have been married at the time of (confirmed or suspected) death, and to the parents only should the serviceperson have been unmarried at the time of death. The

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has the authority to annul or restore the award to any person on the recommendation of the Defence Secretary. Being a posthumous award, the medal has no accompanying

ribbon bar A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

References

External links

Ministry of Defence : Sri LankaSri Lanka ArmySri Lanka NavySri Lanka Air ForceSri Lanka Police
{{Military awards and decorations of Sri Lanka Military awards and decorations of Sri Lanka Awards established in 2010 Wound decorations

Design

Award process

See also

References

External links