Orders, decorations, and medals of Norway
# Orders, decorations, and medals of Norway

This is a list of Norwegian orders and medals, in order of precedence. This list contains all medals approved for wearing on a Norwegian military uniform in ranked order.

## Group 1: Awarded by or approved by H.M. The King

Those awards presented by or approved by the King of Norway are worn in an order of precedence established by Royal Decree of 11 June 1943, with subsequent additions.

| No. | Name in English | Note |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | War Cross With Sword | |
| 2 | Medal for Outstanding Civic Service | obsolete since 2004 |
| 3 | Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav | all ranks and classes |
| 4 | Royal Norwegian Order of Merit | all ranks and classes |
| 5 | Haakon VII Freedom Cross | |
| 6 | St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch | |
| 7 | Medal for Heroism in Gold | |
| 8 | King's Medal of Merit in Gold | |
| 9 | St. Olav's Medal | |
| 10 | War Medal | without and with stars |
| 11 | King's Medal of Merit | |
| 12 | Armed Forces Medal for Heroic Deeds | |
| 13 | King Haakon VII Freedom Medal | |
| 14 | Medal for Heroism in Silver | |
| 15 | Medal for Rescue at Sea | |
| 16 | Nansen Medal for Outstanding Research | |
| 17 | Norwegian Police Cross of Honor | equal in rank, listed by seniority |
| 18 | Civil Defence Cross of Honor | equal in rank, listed by seniority |
| 19 | Norwegian Defence Cross of Honour | equal in rank, listed by seniority |
| 20 | Defence Service Medal with Laurel Branch | |
| 21 | Police Service Medal with Laurel Branch | |
| 22 | Civil Defence Service Medal with Laurel Branch | |
| 23 | Defence Medal 1940 – 1945 | without and with rosette |
| 24 | Home Guard Medal of Merit | |
| 24a | Army Medal of Merit | |
| 24b | Navy Medal of Merit | |
| 24c | Air Force Medal of Merit | |
| 24d | Intelligence Service Medal of Merit | |
| 25 | Norwegian Korea Medal | |
| 26 | Maudheim Medal | |
| 27 | Antarctic Medal | |
| 28 | H. M. The King's Commemorative Medal in Gold | |
| 29 | Royal House Centennial Medal | |
| 30 | King Haakon VII's Commemorative Medal | in gold and silver |
| 31 | King Haakon VII's 1905–1930 Jubilee Medal | |
| 32 | King Haakon VII's 1905–1955 Jubilee Medal | |
| 33 | King Haakon VII's 70th Anniversary Medal | |
| 34 | King Haakon VII's Centennial Medal | |
| 35 | King Olav V's Commemorative Medal | in gold and silver |
| 36 | King Olav V's Anniversary Medal 1957-1982 | |
| 37 | King Olav V's 100th Anniversary Medal | |
| 38 | King Harald V's Jubilee Medal 1991-2016 | |
| 39 | H. M. The King's Commemorative Medal in Silver | |
| 40 | Defence Service Medal | without and with stars |
| 41 | Police Service Medal | without and with stars |
| 42 | Civil Defence Service Medal | without and with stars |
| 43 | Wounded in Action Medal | without and with stars |
| 44 | Armed Forces Medal for International Operations | without and with stars, laurel branch, golden laurel branch |
| 45 | Police Medal for International Service | without and with stars, laurel branch |
| 46 | Civil Defence Medal for International Service | without and with stars, laurel branch |
| 47 | Medal for Defence Service Abroad | without and with rosette |
| 47a | Medal for Defence Service Abroad - Saudi Arabia | without and with rosette |
| 47b | Medal for Defence Service Abroad - Balkans | without and with rosette |
| 47c | Medal for Defence Service Abroad with rosette – Afghanistan | |
| 48 | Medals for Defence Operations Abroad | |
| 48a | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Kosovo-Serbia-Montenegro | |
| 48b | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Operation Active Endeavour | |
| 48c | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Afghanistan | |
| 48d | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Iraq | |
| 48e | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Operation Baltic Accession | |
| 48f | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Bosnia-Herzegovina | |
| 48g | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Sudan | |
| 48h | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Lebanon | |
| 48i | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Chad | |
| 48j | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Somalia | |
| 48k | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Libya | |
| 48l | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad – escorting the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons | |
| 48m | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Mali | |
| 48n | Medal for Defence Operations Abroad – Mediterranean Sea | |
| 49 | National Service Medal | |
| 49a | National Service Medal - Army | without and with stars |
| 49b | National Service Medal - Navy | without and with stars |
| 49c | National Service Medal - Air Force | without and with stars |
| 49d | National Service Medal - National Guard | without and with stars |
| | For obvious reasons not worn on uniform: | |
| — | Killed in Action Medal | |

### Royal Family Orders

* Royal Family Order of King Haakon VII of Norway (1906–1957)
* Royal Family Order of King Olav V of Norway (1957–1991)
* Royal Family Order of King Harald V of Norway (1991–current)

These are not worn on military uniform.

## Group 2: Foreign state decorations

Decorations that are awarded or approved by foreign heads of state. They are ranked as follows: British, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Swedish, other countries are ranked alphabetically by their name in French.

## Group 3: Decorations of UN, NATO, EU, OSCE and similar

Decorations from international operations led by UN, NATO and other international organisations. The Multinational Force and Observers Medal is also placed in this group, so was the formerly approved PLANELM Medal. Medals are ranked by the year a mission started, oldest first.

## Group 4: Other Norwegian decorations

| No. | Name in English | Note |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Norwegian Military Journal's Medal for Answering a Prize Thesis | |
| 2 | Royal Norwegian Society for Development's Medal for Long and Faithful Service | |
| 3 | Naval Society's Medal for Answering a Prize Thesis | |
| 4 | Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's Medal of Merit | |
| 5 | Naval Society's Medal of Merit | |
| 6 | Norwegian Red Cross' Badge of Honour | |
| 7 | Norwegian Reserve Officers' Federation's Badge of Honour | without or with golden laurel branch |
| 8 | Norwegian Shooting Association's Badge of Honour | |
| 9 | Norwegian Federation of Military Comrade Associations's Badge of Honour | |
| 10 | The Norwegian Defense Association's Defense Sports Medal | |
| 11 | Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's Badge of Honour | |
| 12 | War Participants' Association's Badge of Honour | |
| 13 | His Majesty The King's Guard's Medal | gold, silver, bronze |
| 14 | The Norwegian Officers Riding Club's Badge of Honour | |
| 15 | The Norwegian Defense Association's Badge of Honour, and Honorary membership | same ribbon |
| 16 | German Brigade Veterans Medal | |
| 17 | The Norwegian Lotte Association's Badge of Honour | |
| 18 | UN's Peace Prize Medal 1988 | |
| 19 | Norwegian Veterans' Association for International Operations' Badge of Honour | gold, silver, bronze |
| 20 | Oslo Military Society's Badge of Honour | gold, silver, bronze |
| 21 | Air Force Society's Badge of Honour | |
| 22 | Norwegian Aero Club's Badge of Honour | |
| 23 | Police Afghanistan Medal | |
| 24 | Hakon Hansen's Gold Medal | |
| 25 | The Defense Seniors Association' Badge of Honour | |
| 26 | Brigade Veterans Association's Badge of Honour | |

## Group 5: Other foreign decorations

Foreign awards that do not fall into any of the groups above can be approved for use on Norwegian military uniform upon application. The order of wear as for group 2.

## Group 6: Medals awarded for military skills

Since 2008, the old medals were no longer approved worn on military uniform, and got replaced by the following medals in 2012:

* Norwegian defence shooting badge
* Norwegian defence military sports badge

### Military medals of skills

These decorations are most often divided in three classes: bronze, silver and gold. They are most often awarded as metal badges, but if the gold requirements are met over several years a medal is awarded:

* The military sharp shooting badge (shooting)
* The military marching badge (30 km march with gear)
* The military skiing badge (30 km skiing, including shooting)
* The military infantry badge (infantry skills)
* The military sports badge (military sports)
* The military penthathlon badge (Military pentathlon)

Since 2008, the above medals are no longer approved worn on military uniform. The requirements for these medals can be a part of earning the current military medals

### Civilian medals of skills

These share most of the characteristics of the badges and medals awarded for military skills, but the requirements may vary more:

* Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's merit badge (shooting)
* Norwegian Confederation of Sports Medal (sports)
* Norwegian Swimming Federation's «The big seahorse» (swimming)
* Norwegian Shooting Association's army rifle medal (NAIS-medal) (shooting)
* Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's biathlon medal ( –1983) / Norwegian Biathlon Association's medal (1983– ) (biathlon)

Since 2008, the above medals are no longer approved worn on military uniform. The requirements for these medals can be a part of earning the current military medals.

Additional civilian skills medal no longer approved worn on military uniform:

* Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's medal of shooting (gold), also known as DFS organization medal (shooting) – Old ribbon version, the current is the same as the silver medal.
* Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's medal of shooting (silver), also known as DFS organization medal (shooting).

## Foreign medals of skills

Foreign military and civilian skill medals are generally not permitted to be used on Norwegian military uniforms, unless permission has been applied and granted. Such skill medals then rank very last, after all other awards and skill marks.

The following foreign skill mark is approved:

* Cross for the Four Day Marches

## Unit citations

The Norwegian Armed Forces does not have any unit citations.

Norwegian personnel who have fought in departments that have been honored with a foreign unit citation or unit award and who have received a ribbon as a sign of this, are allowed to wear these on Norwegian military uniform, but then separate from other ribbon stripes and located below these.

Unit citations in the form of ribbons are not worn with medals.

Examples of foreign unit citations given to Norwegian personnel:

* Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, South Korea
* Army Meritorious Unit Commendation, USA
* Navy Presidential Unit Citation, USA
* Joint Meritorious Unit Award, USA

## No longer awarded

The following obsolete awards are no longer approved on military uniform:

* The Royal Norwegian Order of the Norwegian Lion
* Military cross with sword
* Military cross
* Armed Forces Medal for Heroic Deeds with Golden Laurel Branch
* PLANELM Medal, awarded to the Planning Element staff in SHIRBRIG

The Military cross, in both versions, are since 2014 no longer approved worn on military uniform. Personnel still serving got it converted to other medals. Similarly has the Medal for International Operations with Golden Laurel Branch been converted for personnel still serving.

Approved worn on military uniform in the years 1961–1981:

* Norwegian Confederation of Sports' 100 Years Anniversary Medal
