# Campaign medal > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Campaign_medal > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Campaign_medal.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_medal > Source revision: 1345584557 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Military decoration}} {{one source|date=April 2020}} A '''campaign medal''' is a [military decoration](/source/military_decoration) which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a [designated military operation](/source/Military_operation) or performs duty in a geographical [theater](/source/Theater_(warfare)). Campaign medals are very similar to [service medal](/source/service_medal)s but carry a higher status as the award usually involves deployment to a foreign region or service in a combat zone. == History == [[File:James Hope Grant, 1853.jpg|thumb|''[Portrait of Hope Grant](/source/Portrait_of_Hope_Grant)'', 1853. Depicted in the uniform of a [Lieutenant Colonel](/source/Lieutenant_Colonel) in the [British Army](/source/British_Army), Grant is shown wearing three campaign medals]] Campaign medals were first invented to recognize general military service in war, in contrast to meritorious decorations which were only issued on a small scale for acts of heroism and bravery. The campaign were first issued by the British military with the medal awarded for the defeat of the [Invincible Armada](/source/Invincible_Armada), with the 1815 [Waterloo Medal](/source/Waterloo_Medal) being the first awarded to all men present and the 1847 [Military General Service Medal](/source/Military_General_Service_Medal) being the first "modern" campaign medal.[https://books.google.com/books?id=V6_lCAAAQBAJ&dq=%22first+campaign+medal%22&pg=PA1048 Charles McDowell, "Military Decoration", ''World War II in Europe. An Encyclopedia'', Routledge, 2015 p. 1047-1048] ==Campaign medals by country== * [Australian campaign medals](/source/Australian_campaign_medals) * [British campaign medals](/source/British_campaign_medals) * [Canadian campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3ACanadian_campaign_medals) * [Malaysian campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3AMalaysian_campaign_medals) * [NATO Medal](/source/NATO_Medal) refers to a number of campaign medals * [New Zealand campaign medals](/source/New_Zealand_campaign_medals) * [Philippines campaign medals](/source/Philippines_campaign_medals) * [Polish campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3APolish_campaign_medals) * [South African campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3ASouth_African_campaign_medals) * [South Korean campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3AMilitary_awards_and_decorations_of_South_Korea) * [Soviet campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3ASoviet_campaign_medals) * [Spanish campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3ASpanish_campaign_medals) * [Sri Lankan campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3ASri_Lankan_campaign_medals) * [United Nations Medal](/source/United_Nations_Medal) refers to a number of campaign medals * [United States campaign medals](/source/%3ACategory%3AUnited_States_campaign_medals) are included in [Awards and decorations of the United States military](/source/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_military) ==Other campaign related items== * [Battle honour](/source/Battle_honour) / [Campaign streamer](/source/Campaign_streamer) * [Medal bar](/source/Medal_bar) / [Campaign clasp](/source/Campaign_clasp) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Campaign Medal}} {{Orders and phaleristics}} Category:Campaign medals --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Campaign medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_medal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_medal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.