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The Victory Medal Obverse The Victory Medal Reverse

The Victory Medal

Overview

The Victory Medal was awarded to personnel who had previously qualified for the 1914 Star or the 1914-15 Star, and to most service members who qualified for the British War Medal, including New Zealand troops serving overseas.   Service in Samoa after 30 August 1914 and in Great Britain did not qualify for the Victory Medal.

Description

The Victory Medal is yellow bronze, bearing on the obverse the standing figure of Victory holding a palm branch in her right hand and stretching out her left hand. The reverse features a laurel wreath containing a four-line inscription: "THE GREAT WAR FOR CIVILISATION 1914-1919". The dates are '1914-1919' to include post-war intervention by the Allied nations in the Russian Civil War. 

The ribbon is watered silk with a double rainbow, with indigo at the edges and red in the centre.

Often referred to as the "Allied War Medal", the same basic design and the double rainbow ribbon were adopted by 13 other Allied nations. The United States of America alone issued their medal with campaign clasps. The Union of South Africa produced a version of the medal with a reverse text in English and Dutch (not Afrikaans, as is often stated).

Eligibility

The Victory Medal was issued to all those who had already qualified for the 1914 Star or the 1914-15 Star, and to most persons who had already qualified for the British War Medal. The Victory Medal was awarded to all New Zealand troops serving overseas, except for those who arrived in Samoa after 30 August 1914 and those serving in Great Britain only.

For further information:

Army Orders establishing the regulations for the Victory Medal can be found at Archives New Zealand(external link).  Scans from the Archives files are provided below:

Army Orders 266 and 301, July 1919:  the British War Medal and The Victory Medal (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Army Order 392, October 1922:  The British War Medal (PDF, 2.4 MB)

WO 3973 and WO 3974, December 1919:  The British War Medal and The Victory Medal, provided to Government House in December 1919 (PDF, 4 MB)

Recipients

Approximately 6 million Victory Medals were issued to military personnel from the British Empire.

Queries & requests

  • Related publications

    For more information about First World War medals the following books are recommended:

    • Alec A. Purves. The Medals, Decorations and Orders of the Great War 1914-1918. 2nd revised edition (1989)
    • Captain H. Taprell Dorling. Ribbons and Medals. 20th edition (1983). Edited and revised by Alec A. Purves

  • Wearing this medal

    The Victory Medal is worn as a war medal in the New Zealand Order of Wear.  First World War Medals are worn in the following order:

    • The 1914 Star
    • The 1914-15 Star
    • The British War Medal
    • The Mercantile Marine War Medal
    • The Victory Medal

    For more information on how to wear and care for honours, medals, and awards:

  • Checking eligibility and applying for this medal

    Most First World War medals have been issued to service members or their descendants.  NZDF Personnel Archives and Medals (PAM) holds only a few remaining  First World War medals.  

  • Checking if this medal was issued

    Most of the war medals for service in the First World War were issued to New Zealand recipients between 1920 and 1924, including to the next-of-kin of the more than 18,000 New Zealand service personnel who died as a result of war service. Nearly all the remaining medals were claimed by the individuals or their immediate family before 1970.

    You can check the medal entitlements of a relative who served in the First World War by looking at the online version of their military service file held by Archives New Zealand.(external link)  Search the site using the full name of your relative.  Once you have downloaded the file, you can find the medal entitlement and the dates the medals were issued on the History Sheet.

    If a First World War medal has been issued but cannot be found, the NZDF cannot replace it and does not sell replica (copy) medals.  Duplicate or replacement medals can be purchased from various medal dealers in New Zealand -- search online for "replica medals country:nz".  Miniatures of First World War medals can also be purchased online directly from our supplier, Eng Leong Medallic (ELM).

    IMPORTANT NOTE:  Medals issued to descendants of servicemembers after the digitalisation of service records at Archives New Zealand will not be recorded on the digitised service record.