Orders, decorations, and medals of Norway

This is a list of Norwegian orders and medals in order of precedence. This list contains all medals approved for wearing on a Norwegian military uniform in ranked order.

Group 1: Awarded by or approved by H.M. The King

Those awards presented by or approved by the King of Norway are worn in an order of precedence established by Royal Decree of 11 June 1943, with subsequent additions.

No.	Ribbon	Name in English	Note
1		War Cross With Sword
2		Medal for Outstanding Civic Service	obsolete since 2004
3		Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav	all ranks and classes
4		Royal Norwegian Order of Merit	all ranks and classes
5		Haakon VII Freedom Cross
6		St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch
7		Medal for Heroism in Gold
8		King's Medal of Merit in Gold
9		St. Olav's Medal
10		War Medal	without and with stars
11		King's Medal of Merit
12		Armed Forces Medal for Heroic Deeds
13		King Haakon VII Freedom Medal
14		Medal for Heroism in Silver
15		Medal for Rescue at Sea
16		Nansen Medal for Outstanding Research
17		Norwegian Police Cross of Honor	equal in rank, listed by seniority
18		Civil Defence Cross of Honor	equal in rank, listed by seniority
19		Norwegian Defence Cross of Honour	equal in rank, listed by seniority
20		Defence Service Medal with Laurel Branch
21		Police Service Medal with Laurel Branch
22		Civil Defence Service Medal with Laurel Branch
23		Defence Medal 1940 – 1945	without and with rosette
24		Home Guard Medal of Merit
24a		Army Medal of Merit
24b		Navy Medal of Merit
24c		Air Force Medal of Merit
24d		Intelligence Service Medal of Merit
25		Norwegian Korea Medal
26		Maudheim Medal
27		Antarctic Medal
28		H. M. The King's Commemorative Medal in Gold
29		Royal House Centennial Medal
30		King Haakon VII's Commemorative Medal	in gold and silver
31		King Haakon VII's 1905–1930 Jubilee Medal
32		King Haakon VII's 1905–1955 Jubilee Medal
33		King Haakon VII's 70th Anniversary Medal
34		King Haakon VII's Centennial Medal
35		King Olav V's Commemorative Medal	in gold and silver
36		King Olav V's Anniversary Medal 1957-1982
37		King Olav V's 100th Anniversary Medal
38		King Harald V's Jubilee Medal 1991-2016
39		H. M. The King's Commemorative Medal in Silver
40		Defence Service Medal	without and with stars
41		Police Service Medal	without and with stars
42		Civil Defence Service Medal	without and with stars
43		Wounded in Action Medal	without and with stars
44		Armed Forces Medal for International Operations	without and with stars, laurel branch, golden laurel branch
45		Police Medal for International Service	without and with stars, laurel branch
46		Civil Defence Medal for International Service	without and with stars, laurel branch
47		Medal for Defence Service Abroad	without and with rosette
47a		Medal for Defence Service Abroad - Saudi Arabia	without and with rosette
47b		Medal for Defence Service Abroad - Balkans	without and with rosette
47c		Medal for Defence Service Abroad with rosette – Afghanistan
48		Medals for Defence Operations Abroad
48a		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Kosovo-Serbia-Montenegro
48b		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Operation Active Endeavour
48c		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Afghanistan
48d		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Iraq
48e		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Operation Baltic Accession
48f		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Bosnia-Herzegovina
48g		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Sudan
48h		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Lebanon
48i		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Chad
48j		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Somalia
48k		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Libya
48l		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad – escorting the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons
48m		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad - Mali
48n		Medal for Defence Operations Abroad – Mediterranean Sea
49		National Service Medal
49a		National Service Medal - Army	without and with stars
49b		National Service Medal - Navy	without and with stars
49c		National Service Medal - Air Force	without and with stars
49d		National Service Medal - National Guard	without and with stars
		For obvious reasons not worn on uniform:
—		Killed in Action Medal

[Royal Family Order]s

These are not worn on military uniform.

Group 2: Foreign state decorations

Decorations that are awarded or approved by foreign heads of state. They are ranked as follows: British, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Swedish, other countries are ranked alphabetically by their name in French.

Group 3: Decorations of UN, NATO, EU, OSCE and similar

Decorations from international operations led by UN, NATO and other international organisations. The Multinational Force and Observers Medal is also placed in this group, so was the formerly approved PLANELM Medal. Medals are ranked by the year a mission started, oldest first.

Group 5: Other foreign decorations

Foreign awards that do not fall into any of the groups above can be approved for use on Norwegian military uniform upon application. The order of wear as for group 2.

Group 6: Medals awarded for military skills

Since 2008, the old medals were no longer approved worn on military uniform, and got replaced by the following medals in 2012:

Norwegian Defence Shooting Badge
Norwegian Defence military Sports Badge

Military Medals and Badges of Skills

These decorations are most often divided in three classes: bronze, silver and gold. They are most often awarded as metal badges, but if the gold requirements are met over several years a medal is awarded:

The Military Marching Badge
The Military Sharp Shooting Badge
The Military Skiing Badge
The Military Infantry Badge
The Military Sports Badge
The Military Penthathlon Badge

Since 2008, the above medals are no longer approved worn on military uniform. The requirements for these medals can be a part of earning the current military medals

Civilian Medals of Skills

These share most of the characteristics of the badges and medals awarded for military skills, but the requirements may vary more:

Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's merit badge
Norwegian Confederation of Sports Medal
Norwegian Swimming Federation's «The big seahorse»
Norwegian Shooting Association's army rifle medal
Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's biathlon medal / Norwegian Biathlon Association's medal

Since 2008, the above medals are no longer approved worn on military uniform. The requirements for these medals can be a part of earning the current military medals.
Additional civilian skills medal no longer approved worn on military uniform:

Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's medal of shooting, also known as DFS organization medal – Old ribbon version, the current is the same as the silver medal.
Norwegian Civilian Marksmanship Association's medal of shooting, also known as DFS organization medal.

Foreign medals of skills

Foreign military and civilian skill medals are generally not permitted to be used on Norwegian military uniforms, unless permission has been applied and granted. Such skill medals then rank very last, after all other awards and skill marks.
The following foreign skill mark is approved:

Cross for the Four Day Marches

Unit citations

The Norwegian Armed Forces does not have any unit citations.
Norwegian personnel who have fought in departments that have been honored with a foreign unit citation or unit award and who have received a ribbon as a sign of this, are allowed to wear these on Norwegian military uniform, but then separate from other ribbon stripes and located below these.
Unit citations in the form of ribbons are not worn with medals.
Examples of foreign unit citations given to Norwegian personnel:

Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, South Korea
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation, USA
Navy Presidential Unit Citation, USA
Joint Meritorious Unit Award, USA

No longer awarded

The following obsolete awards are no longer approved on military uniform:

The Royal Norwegian Order of the Norwegian Lion
Military cross with sword
Military cross
Armed Forces Medal for Heroic Deeds with Golden Laurel Branch
PLANELM Medal, awarded to the Planning Element staff in SHIRBRIG

The Military cross, in both versions, are since 2014 no longer approved worn on military uniform. Personnel still serving got it converted to other medals. Similarly has the Medal for International Operations with Golden Laurel Branch been converted for personnel still serving.
Approved worn on military uniform in the years 1961–1981:

Norwegian Confederation of Sports' 100 Years Anniversary Medal