Glossary of Auxiliary Award Terms

AAM

Auxiliary Achievement Medal, a personal decoration.

ACLOC

Auxiliary Commandant’s Letter of Commendation, a personal decoration.

ACM

Auxiliary Commendation Medal, a personal decoration.

Given to Auxiliarists in recognition of outstanding assistance that furthers any of the Auxiliary’s authorized activities, except operations; the Medal of Operational Merit (MOM) is for operations).

acorn

The small squeezable metal or PVC fastener for a clutch back style ribbon rack that secures the rack’s pins to the uniform. Veteran Auxiliarists carry spare acorns for the frequent occasions when they go missing, usually just before an inspection. Also known as “butterfly clutch” or “butterfly clasp.”

ADSM

Auxiliary Distinguished Service Medal, a personal decoration and the highest Auxiliary award. It is bestowed only by the Commandant.

It recognizes Auxiliarists “who distinguish themselves by contributing exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service to the Coast Guard Auxiliary.” [Auxiliary Manual]

ALOM

The Auxiliary Legion of Merit, a high-ranking personal decoration awarded only by the Commandant.

It is awarded for service comparable to the Auxiliary Distinguished Service Medal (ADSM) but in a duty of lesser, though considerable, responsibility.

AMOM

Auxiliary Medal of Operational Merit, a personal decoration

Awarded to Auxiliarists in recognition of outstanding skill in performing an assist, rescue, or other meritorious operational service.

AMOS

Auxiliary Mission Objective System. A series of Auxiliary ribbons and awards used 1988–95. Replaced by the Annual Service Performance Award System. AMOS ribbons are generally still authorized for wear, if in good condition.

AMSM

Auxiliary Meritorious Service Medal, a personal decoration.

It is awarded to Auxiliarists who have contributed exceptional meritorious service to the Coast Guard and/or Auxiliary. Auxiliarists who serve in any capacity within the Auxiliary are eligible.

APOM

Auxiliary Plaque of Merit, a personal decoration.

It is awarded in recognition of extreme skill in performing an assist or rescue that involves risk to the Auxiliarist’s life.

arrowhead device

A ¼" bronze vertical American Indian arrowhead, a rarely seen device nowadays and earned for participating in a successful land invasion, air assault or sea assault opposed by force. Earned by Army, Air Force or Space Force personnel, or others by special dispensation.

Auxiliary-eligible awards

Awards and full-sized medals that Auxiliarists can receive and wear. Auxiliarists are eligible to receive Coast Guard Unit Awards, Meritorious Team Commendations, Special Operations Service Ribbons, Recruiting Ribbons, and Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medals in addition to Auxiliary-specific awards.

Auxiliary award, Auxiliary ribbon

A ribbon authorized for wear only on an Auxiliary uniform; some awards include a miniature medal. Several regular Coast Guard ribbons, such as the Coast Guard Unit Commendation, are also authorized by the Coast Guard to be earned and worn by Auxiliarists.

Auxiliary ribbons are generally not authorized for wear by the other uniformed services, including the regular Coast Guard, and so do not appear in Army Institute of Heraldry or regular Coast Guard precedence tables.

Awarding Authority, Authorizing Authority

Every Coast Guard ribbon and medal must be approved by an awarding authority before issue; the authority differs by award. In the case of awards issued automatically, the authority is “administrative,’ but still overseen by a responsible party. COMDTINST M1650.25E table 1-1 lists awarding authorities for the Coast Guard.

For Auxiliary ribbons, the method of recommending and approving awards is broader than in the military, and is outlined in the Auxiliary Manual Chapter 11 Section D.

BUC, Buck

Nickname for the Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation, issued briefly in 1990 to all Coast Guard members (including civilians) who were affiliated from March 1989 to October 1989. Also available to Public Health Service and other service members assigned to Coast Guard duties.

butterfly clutch, butterfly clasp

See acorn.

clasp

An inscribed horizontal rectangular bar that is attached to medal suspension ribbons, often displaying the name of a campaign, battle or duty station. Clasps are not worn on ribbon bars — only on medal suspension ribbons. In lieu of a clasp on a ribbon bar, a smaller device is frequently authorized.

Here are examples of three clasps for the Antarctica Service Medal suspension ribbon, and their corresponding disc-shaped ribbon bar devices:

clutch back

Military-style straight pin method of attaching ribbon racks, nameplates, and other uniform shirt and blouse components. The most common alternative is magnetic back. See acorn.

COMDTINST M1650.25

The “Coast Guard Medals and Awards Manual,” which with Auxiliary Manual Chapter 11 jointly specify how Auxiliarists are to wear their medals and ribbons.

decoration

A medal or ribbon in the Personal Decorations category, indicative of personal valor, highly accomplished or hazardous service, achievement, or lengthy outstanding service. Several Auxiliary awards are in this group.

device(s)

A metallic attachment to a ribbon or medal, usually colored bronze, gold or silver. Devices can indicate length of service, special circumstances, exceptional valor or achievement, the number of times the ribbon as been earned, etc. The naval services frequently use different devices than the Army and Air & Space services to indicate the same thing, but devices from different services should not be mixed on the same ribbon.

See the device usage chart for guidance.

Favorite 9

A ribbon rack option open only to Auxiliarists (not regular Coast Guard members) to choose to wear their nine favorite ribbons. Any nine can be selected, but they must still be worn in precedence order. The Favorite 9 option is available in this ribbon checker. Also see Senior 3.

Regular Coast Guard members have the option of wearing their nine most senior ribbons.

fruit salad, fruit bar

Slang for a large ribbon rack.

GAP

Goal Attainment Process. A series of Auxiliary ribbons and awards used in 1975–88. Replaced by AMOS, the Auxiliary Mission Objective System. GAP ribbons are still authorized for wear, if in good condition.

hourglass, hourglass device

A rectangular bronze, gold or silver device with the image of an hourglass, used on certain ribbons to replace service stars when indicating lengthy service, such as many thousands of hours served as an Auxiliarist.

Hurricane Device

The Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation with a metal hurricane weather symbol device was issued by the president to all eligible members of the Coast Guard, including all eligible Auxiliarists, in recognition of the Coast Guard’s response to Hurricane Katrina from 29 August 2005 to 13 September 2005.

medal ribbon

A ribbon specifically associated with a medal. Many ribbons have no associated full-sized medal.

medal set

A boxed presentation case containing a higher-ranking medal, often including the official medal, its ribbon bar, a miniature version of the medal, and an enameled miniature version or rosette of the ribbon for civilian attire, plus a signed certificate describing the circumstances of the award. The Medal of Honor set includes a specially designed flag.

miniature, miniature medal

An undersized medal or ribbon intended for black-tie or civilian wear. Some miniatures are included in medal sets, and some are available only commercially. They are roughly half the size of a full-size medal.

Auxiliary ribbons have no corresponding full-sized medals, but instead have miniature versions for black-tie occasions. Many use a common medal design and differ only in the ribbon.

Only ⅛" stars are used on Auxiliary miniature medal suspension ribbons.

MOM

Auxiliary Medal of Operational Merit, a personal decoration.

National Defense Service Medal

The most common military service ribbon, with millions issued beginning in the Korean War era. It is issued to all armed forces personnel for service in several distinct time periods, regardless of the service member’s place of duty. Auxiliary duty has never qualified for this award.

Numeric Device

Metal digit devices, 1 to 9, added to a ribbon to indicate the number of years, seasons, tours of duty, etc. Used on some ribbons in lieu of service stars or other devices.

oak leaf cluster(s)

A ribbon device most often used by non-naval services to indicate subsequent awards. Naval services use service stars.

obverse

The front of a medal. The opposite side is the reverse.

orientation

The correct wearing of a ribbon with an asymmetric design.

Most ribbons have symmetrical designs, and so can be worn with either long edge on top. However, some ribbons have asymmetrical designs and can accidentally be worn upside down. In some cases, the asymmetry so subtle as to be barely noticeable. Inspecting officers are often familiar with the more troublesome ribbons and look out for incorrect orientation.

Fortunately, few ribbons that can be earned by Auxiliarists are asymmetrical, but Auxiliarists who have prior service ribbons should be wary.

Rarely, wearing a ribbon upside down turns it into an entirely different (and entirely unearned) award, as in this example:

 ←Department of Transportation 9/11 Medal ←National Medal of Science

More often, asymmetry simply means an attention to detail when building a ribbon rack:

Asymmetric ribbons, some with asymmetric mandatory devices, are noted in this ribbon checker.

Personal Decoration(s)

The highest-precedence group of awards. When a subsequent award of the same personal decoration is made to a member of the naval services, it is usually indicated by a ⁵⁄₁₆" star rather than the smaller ³⁄₁₆" star used for other categories of ribbons.

For non-naval services, including the Army and Air Force, oak leaf clusters are usually used instead of stars.

phaleristics, faleristics

The academic study of military decorations and ribbons. Really.

precedence

The order in which ribbons and medals are to be worn. Each uniformed service sets its own overall order of precedence, consistent with federal law, executive orders, service regulations and Army Institute of Heraldry guidance, which extends it precedence table back to Civil War, Indian Wars and Spanish-American War campaign awards. Precedence is broadly grouped in this order:

1. Personal Decorations
2. Unit Awards
3. Campaign and Service Awards
4. Foreign Personal Decorations and Unit Awards
5. Non-U.S. Service Awards
6. Foreign Service Awards
7. Marksmanship Awards
8. Other specially authorized awards.

Within each group, ribbons are placed taking into consideration law, military custom, issuing authority, chronological seniority and the order earned by the wearer.

The Medal of Honor is always first precedence. The highest-ranking Auxiliary ribbon is the Auxiliary Distinguished Service Medal, ranked just after the Navy Cross and just before the Defense Distinguished Service Medal near the top of the Personal Decorations group.

Some awards, such as distinguished service medals, are separately issued by all of the armed services and the Auxiliary, and they all have equal precedence. So any Auxiliarist holding two or more different distinguished service medals (not a likely possibility) would place the Auxiliary medal first, then the regular Coast Guard version, then the other versions — Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), and Air & Space — in the order earned. The Department of Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal is ranked separately, just below the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

With similar multi-level ranking of precedence throughout the nearly 300 possible federal ribbons available, many service members use a web-base ribbon checker to simplify the process of building their ribbon rack or checking its accuracy.

prior service ribbons

Non-Auxiliary federal ribbons earned by Auxiliarists with previous or simultaneous federal service. These are accounted for in this ribbon checker and in the precedence tables in Chapter 11 of the Auxiliary Manual. All authorized prior service ribbons are worn on the Auxiliary uniform in the order indicated in the Auxiliary Manual and this ribbon checker.

reverse

The back side of a medal. The opposite (front) side is the obverse.

ribbon

A rectangular cloth-covered pin measuring 1³⁄₈" (35mm) wide, ³⁄₈" (9.5mm) tall, and 0.8mm thick. Certain Army unit ribbons are slightly larger, and are incompatible with Coast Guard ribbon racks.

Ribbons are either worn alone or grouped on a ribbon rack. Ribbons and medals are designed and assigned precedence in consultation with the Army’s Institute of Heraldry and the Coast Guard.

ribbon bar

Synonym for ribbon, often informally applied to a set of just 1 to 3 ribbons. Also useful for differentiating between suspension ribbons, which are used for hanging medals from their fasteners.

ribbon checker

An automated web site that helps uniformed service members place their ribbons in the correct order. Most produce an illustration of what the completed ribbon rack should look like, and are hosted by companies that build ribbon racks.

ribbon rack, rack

The collection of ribbons worn by uniformed service members. Most uniformed services wear one rack on the left chest, three ribbons wide. Army members wear racks on each chest, with the ribbons divided by type. Marines have the option of wearing three or four ribbons across.

Auxiliary ribbon racks are purchased by specifying the number of ribbons across and the number of rows, and choosing “centered alignment.”

Some vendors sell thin ribbon racks that are custom made and use magnets instead of pins. The ribbons cannot be easily changed.

rosette

A small, round lapel pin or button issued with certain high-precedence personal decorations and intended for wear on civilian clothes. Usually echoes the design of the ribbon, as with the Medal of Honor rosette shown below.

Senior 3

A ribbon rack option open to Auxiliarists and regular Coast Guard members to wear only their three most senior ribbons. They must be worn in order of precedence. The Senior 3 option is available in this ribbon checker. Also see Favorite 9.

Senior 3 is an attractive option for Auxiliarists who are wearing trops and find that the entire rack and Favorite 9 options restrict their movement.

service ribbon, service award

A ribbon based on assignments to duty or length of service, usually according to specific criteria such as duty on certain dates or places. Many are issued administratively; that is, automatically issued when the criteria are met.

service star(s)

³⁄₁₆" bronze, gold and silver devices that indicate subsequent awards of a ribbon. Generally, when a fifth gold star is earned, all five are replaced by one silver star. Using this method, a member can earn up to 51 instances of a ribbon — the ribbon itself plus 50 subsequent awards. For certain ribbons, multiple stars are replaced by an hourglass or other device.

Not to be confused with ⁵⁄₁₆" gold and silver stars used on many personal decorations.

stars, star devices

Star devices on Auxiliary and Coast Guard ribbons and miniature medals come in three sizes, depending on their significance: ⅛", ³⁄₁₆" and ⁵⁄₁₆".

They also come in metallic colors: bronze, gold and silver.

Do not confuse silver stars or bronze stars (the ribbon devices) with the Silver Star Medal and Bronze Star Medal (the combat awards).

See the device usage chart for guidance.

If in doubt about the use and placement of star devices, consult your unit’s FSO-MT, FC or VFC.

subsequent award(s)

The award of a ribbon to someone who previously earned the same award, a common occurrence in all Coast Guard branches.

Except for the Medal of Honor, duplicate ribbons are not allowed to be worn; to accomodate multiple instances of an award, the naval services usually issue stars to the recipient. The non-naval services, such as the Army, usually issue oak leaf clusters.

In the cases of star and oak leaf cluster devices, one repeated award earns one gold device. Once four gold devices have been earned, a fifth gold device cannot be added. Instead, a silver device is substituted for all five gold devices.

The Auxiliary tracks member awards, and then forwards the correct device to the member’s flotilla for presentation.

Example: An Auxiliarist who has earned the same award 8 times would wear the ribbon with one silver star and two gold stars; 1 ribbon + 1 silver star in lieu of 5 gold stars + 2 gold stars = 8 awards.

For the Sustained Auxiliary Service Award, a single hourglass device is used instead of stars for instances where the number of frequently earned stars would become burdensome to manage. Even using hourglasses, some members earn the maximum — one silver hourglass representing 25,000 volunteer hours — after which no more devices are issued.

suspension loop

The fixed loop that is an integral part of a medal, and which hangs from the suspension ring. Also simply known as a suspension.

suspension ribbon

The ribbon from which hangs a medal; the top of the suspension ribbon has a fastener and the bottom has a suspension ring. This style is also known as a ribbon drape.

suspension ring

The small movable ring that connects the suspension ribbon to its medal’s suspension loop.

unauthorized ribbons

Ribbons issued by the states (such as National Guard), municipalities or private organizations. Generally, such ribbons are not authorized for wear on Auxiliary or Coast Guard uniforms, even though other uniformed services or the Defense Department may allow them.

win, won

Banish these words from your Auxiliary award vocabulary; medals, ribbons and other decorations in the uniformed services are earned, bestowed, issued, given, presented or authorized — but they are never won. It’s not a contest, and wearers of many military decorations would be the last people to say they won anything.