{"id":19685,"date":"2026-09-17T15:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.militaryframes.com\/blog\/?p=19685"},"modified":"2026-10-19T20:06:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T00:06:43","slug":"army-medals-order-of-precedence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.militaryframes.com\/blog\/army-medals-order-of-precedence\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Arrange Army Medals in Order of Precedence"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Sorting Army medals looks simple until they’re actually spread out on the kitchen table. Awards from different decades, ribbons that look nearly identical, a loose metal oak leaf cluster with no obvious home. It’s a lot, especially when the medals belong to a parent, spouse, or grandparent, and you want to get every detail right.<\/span><\/p>

The good news is that one rule does most of the heavy lifting:<\/span><\/p>

Army medals and ribbons are arranged from highest to lowest in order of precedence.<\/span><\/p>

On the uniform, the highest award sits on the top row, closest to the heart. From the viewer’s perspective, that puts it at the top left. A military medal shadow box<\/a>\u00a0follows the same convention, and once the medals are sorted, the rest of the display tends to fall into place.<\/span><\/p>

Below, you’ll find the full Army order of precedence, the placement rules that trip people up most, and how to turn a sorted collection into a display worth handing down.<\/span><\/p>

Find Your Frame<\/a><\/div>\n

What Does Army Order of Precedence Mean?<\/span><\/h2>

Order of precedence is the Army’s official ranking of its awards. It determines where every ribbon and medal sits on the uniform, from the Medal of Honor all the way down to service ribbons, and it gives you a dependable roadmap for a display.<\/span><\/p>

The rankings come from two official references: Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, and Department of the Army Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia. You don’t need to read either one cover to cover, but if a specific award has you second-guessing, that’s where the answer lives.<\/span><\/p>

A shadow box doesn’t have to recreate the uniform exactly, but<\/span>\u00a0following the official order helps make sure each award is displayed where it belongs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Army Medals in Order of Precedence<\/span><\/h2>

U.S. Personal Decorations<\/span><\/h3>

Personal decorations come first, ranked from highest to lowest. You’ll notice Department of Defense decorations mixed in with Army awards on this list, because soldiers who served in joint assignments may have earned them.<\/span><\/p>

  1. Medal of Honor<\/span><\/li>
  2. Distinguished Service Cross<\/span><\/li>
  3. Defense Distinguished Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
  4. Distinguished Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
  5. Silver Star<\/span><\/li>
  6. Defense Superior Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
  7. Legion of Merit<\/span><\/li>
  8. Distinguished Flying Cross<\/span><\/li>
  9. Soldier’s Medal<\/span><\/li>
  10. Bronze Star Medal<\/span><\/li>
  11. Purple Heart<\/span><\/li>
  12. Defense Meritorious Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
  13. Meritorious Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
  14. Air Medal<\/span><\/li>
  15. Joint Service Commendation Medal<\/span><\/li>
  16. Army Commendation Medal<\/span><\/li>
  17. Joint Service Achievement Medal<\/span><\/li>
  18. Army Achievement Medal<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

    U.S. Unit Awards<\/span><\/h3>

    Unit awards recognize what an entire unit accomplished together rather than an individual achievement. On the uniform, they’re worn on the right side. In a shadow box, keeping them grouped together helps the display stay easy to read.<\/span><\/p>

    1. Presidential Unit Citation<\/span><\/li>
    2. Joint Meritorious Unit Award<\/span><\/li>
    3. Valorous Unit Award<\/span><\/li>
    4. Meritorious Unit Commendation<\/span><\/li>
    5. Army Superior Unit Award<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

      U.S. Service and Campaign Medals<\/span><\/h3>

      Service and campaign medals come after personal decorations and unit awards. In order of precedence:<\/span><\/p>

      1. Prisoner of War Medal<\/span><\/li>
      2. Army Good Conduct Medal<\/span><\/li>
      3. Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal<\/span><\/li>
      4. Historical campaign medals (World War I, World War II, and other earlier conflicts, placed here in their own established order)<\/span><\/li>
      5. National Defense Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      6. Korean Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      7. Antarctica Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      8. Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal<\/span><\/li>
      9. Vietnam Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      10. Southwest Asia Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      11. Kosovo Campaign Medal<\/span><\/li>
      12. Afghanistan Campaign Medal<\/span><\/li>
      13. Iraq Campaign Medal<\/span><\/li>
      14. Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal<\/span><\/li>
      15. Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal<\/span><\/li>
      16. Global War on Terrorism Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      17. Korea Defense Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      18. Mexican Border Defense Medal<\/li>
      19. Armed Forces Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      20. Humanitarian Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      21. Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
      22. Army Sea Duty Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
      23. Armed Forces Reserve Medal<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

        U.S. Service Ribbons<\/span><\/h3>

        Army service ribbons follow the medals above, in this order:<\/span><\/p>

        1. Army Recruiting Ribbon<\/li>
        2. NCO Professional Development Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
        3. Army Service Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
        4. Army Overseas Service Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
        5. Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

          Foreign Decorations and Awards<\/span><\/h3>

          Foreign decorations generally come after U.S. awards and are arranged in the order they were received. Foreign unit awards, such as the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, stay grouped with unit awards, directly after the U.S. unit awards.<\/span><\/p>

          Non-U.S. service awards have their own established order:<\/span><\/p>

          1. Philippine Defense Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
          2. Philippine Liberation Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
          3. Philippine Independence Ribbon<\/span><\/li>
          4. United Nations Service Medal<\/span><\/li>
          5. Inter-American Defense Board Medal<\/span><\/li>
          6. United Nations Medal<\/span><\/li>
          7. NATO Medal<\/span><\/li>
          8. Multinational Force and Observers Medal<\/span><\/li>
          9. Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal<\/span><\/li>
          10. Kuwait Liberation Medal, Saudi Arabia<\/span><\/li>
          11. Kuwait Liberation Medal, Kuwait<\/span><\/li>
          12. Republic of Korea War Service Medal<\/span><\/li><\/ol>

            Army Medal Placement Rules That Are Easy to Miss<\/span><\/h2>

            Even with the full list in front of you, a few awards cause more confusion than the rest.<\/span><\/p>

            The Purple Heart comes after the Bronze Star Medal. Its significance leads many families to place the Purple Heart near the top of a display, but the official order puts the Bronze Star ahead of it.<\/span><\/p>

            The Army Good Conduct Medal comes before campaign medals. If you’re displaying a Good Conduct Medal alongside an Iraq Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal goes first.<\/span><\/p>

            The Korean Service Medal and the Korea Defense Service Medal don’t sit together. They sound alike, but they’re separate awards from separate eras. The Korean Service Medal recognizes Korean War service, while the Korea Defense Service Medal recognizes qualifying service in Korea from 1954 on. Several awards separate them in the official order.<\/span><\/p>

            Details like these are exactly why it pays to sort every piece before you mount anything.<\/span><\/p>

            What Do the Devices on Army Medals Mean?<\/span><\/h2>

            Look closely at a ribbon or medal and you may find a small attachment. These devices carry part of the story:<\/span><\/p>