Sacrifice Medal
The Sacrifice Medal is a military medal awarded by the Canadian monarch, usually through the Governor General of Canada, to members of the Canadian Forces or allied forces wounded or killed in action, and to members whose death under honourable circumstances is a result of injury or disease related directly to military service. It was created in 2008 as a replacement for the Wound Stripe.
Design
The Sacrifice Medal is in the form of a silver disc topped by St. Edward's Crown, symbolizing the Canadian monarch's role as the fount of honour. On the obverse is an effigy of the reigning sovereign and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces wearing a diadem of maple leaves and snowflakes, surrounded by the inscriptions and Canada. On the reverse is the word sacrifice alongside a depiction of the statue Mother Canada, one of Walter [Seymour Allward]'s allegorical figures adorning the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. The recipient's name, along with his or her rank and service number for those in the military, is inscribed around the medal's edge.This medallion is worn at the left chest, suspended on a 31.8 mm wide ribbon coloured with vertical stripes in purposefully sombre red, black, and white. Should a person already possessing a Sacrifice Medal be awarded the medal again for subsequent injuries, he or she is granted a medal bar—in silver with raised edges and bearing a maple leaf—for wear on the ribbon from which the original medal is suspended.