Sacrifice Medal

The Sacrifice Medal was created to recognize a member of the Canadian Forces, a member of an allied force, or a Canadian civilian under the authority of the Canadian Forces who, as of 7 October 2001, die as a result of military service (hostile action removed in 2009) or are wounded by hostile action. This honour replaces the Wound Stripe. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is included in the injuries and any wound serious enough to be treated by a medical officer and is recorded.

Bar

A silver bar in silver with raised edges with a centered, single silver maple leaf overall. A bar is awarded for further occasions which would have warranted award of the Medal.

Description

A circular silver medal, 36-mm in diameter, which is ensigned with the Royal Crown. The Medal is made of Sterling Silver and lacquered to prevent tarnishing. It is manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Obverse

The contemporary effigy of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada, facing right, wearing a Canadian diadem composed alternately of maple leaves and snowflakes, and circumscribed with the inscriptions “ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA” and “CANADA”, separated by small maple leaves. The small maple leaves broke with the tradition of using British symbols with the addition of the word Canada.

Reverse

A representation of the statue named “Canada” that forms part of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, facing right and overlooking the horizon. The inscription “SACRIFICE” appearsjust below the centre in the lower right half of the Medal.

Mounting

A claw at the top of the medal in the form of the Royal Crown, and attached to a straight slotted bar.

Ribbon

A watered ribbon 32-mm in width, with a 10-mm black stripe in the middle that is flanked by 11-mm red stripes, on which are centered 1-mm white stripes.

Dates

Announced by the Governor General on 29 August 2008 and awarded to persons who served after 07 October 2001. The first awards were made on 11 November 2009.

Naming

The Medal is engraved on the edge with the service number, rank, forename initials and surname of any military recipient or with the forenames and surname of any civilian recipient.

Issued

There have been 902 medals and 18 bars awarded as of January 2018.

There has been 12 Signals and C&E Branch recipients of the Sacrifice Medal. Please see Sacrifice Medal - Signals Recipients for details of the individuals.