As of 29 February 2024

This ribbon checker is based on ribbon precedences and other guidelines in these authoritative publications:

• COMDTINST M16790.1G “Auxiliary Manual” (Auxman) Chapter 11, Tables 11-1 through 11-4, inclusive
• COMDTINST M1650.25E “Coast Guard Military Medals and Awards Manual”
• COMDTINST M1020.6K “Uniform Regulations”
• COMDTINST M12451.1C “Civilian Awards Manual”
• “The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, a History 1939-1999” by John A. Tilley (U.S. Government Printing Office, ISBN 0-16-051411·8)
• Army Pamphlet PAM_670-1 “Military Awards”
• Army Regulation AR_670-1 “Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia”
• Army Regulation AR_600-8-22 “Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia”
• Air Force DAFMAN 36-2806 “Military Awards: Criteria and Procedures”
• DOD Manual 1348.33, Volume 1 “Manual of Military Decorations and Awards: Medal of Honor”
• DOD Manual 1348.33, Volume 2 “Manual of Military Decorations and Awards: DOD Service Awards — Campaign, Expeditionary, and Service Medals”
• DOD Manual 1348.33, Volume 3 “Manual of Military Decorations and Awards: DOD-Wide Personal Performance and Valor Decorations”
• DOD Manual 1348.33, Volume 4 “Manual of Military Decorations and Awards: DOD Joint Decorations and Awards”

Ribbons not mentioned in Auxman’s table of precedence are mostly covered in the cited Army publications, especially PAM 670-1.

Ribbons with equal precedence are worn in the order received, oldest first. Auxiliarists who earned awards while a member of another uniformed federal service should use care when adding devices to ribbon and medals. Ribbon devices should reflect the regulations of the uniformed service where the device was earned.

Folding Auxiliary and regular service ribbons into a single precedence list is tricky, in part because certain obsolete ribbons are no longer listed, but Auxiliarists are allowed to wear them. In a few cases, reliable illustrations of obsolete Auxiliary ribbons are missing or commercial military supply shops mislabel them.

Obsolete Auxiliary Ribbons

Here is an explanation for obsolete Auxiliary ribbons, condensed from several sources:

In 1975, six awards were issued under the Auxiliary’s now-defunct Goal Attainment Process (GAP). While the intent of the program was to encourage each flotilla to achieve certain performance objectives across a breadth of operational and administrative areas, its structure was flawed: It provided the same reward, such as the Member Training Achievement ribbon, to all members regardless of the time or effort invested in helping the flotilla meet the award’s eligibility criteria.

In 1988, these shortcomings led GAP to be shelved in favor of AMOS, or Auxiliary Mission Objective System, which set goals for the flotilla as a whole as well as for each of its members.

In 1995, AMOS was replaced by the current Annual Service Performance Award System, which sets well-defined requirements that individual Auxiliarists must meet to earn the award and attendant decoration.

In the most recent edition of the Auxiliary Manual (COMDTINST M16790.1G), the Coast Guard Auxiliary revised its stance on obsolete awards, and it now allows wear of discontinued decorations provided they are in good condition.

Several obsolete GAR and AMOS ribbons — some given new names — were recycled into the current Annual Service Performance Award System. This effectively means that there is no way of knowing under which program these ribbons were issued without consulting the AuxData II database. Use current precedence for those ribbons.

The recycled ribbons and modern names are: Auxiliary Vessel Examination and RBS Visitation Program Service Performance Award, Auxiliary Operations Service Award, Flotilla Meritorious Achievement Award, and Operations Program Ribbon.

Although authorized for wear, the discontinued GAP ribbons are not given any precedence in Auxman. As such, most likely they should be worn just after the AMOS ribbons.

Rule of thumb: If two identical ribbons are earned and one is obsolete, wear only the most recent in its proper place; omit the older ribbon.

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The campaign streamer featured at the top of this web site was awarded to the Coast Guard for operations against West Indian pirates in the 1820s and ’30s.