Army Spanish Campaign Medal | |
---|---|
Type | Campaign medal |
Presented by | Department of War |
Eligibility | Service in the Spanish–American War |
Status | Obsolete |
First awarded | 11 May 1898 |
Last awarded | 16 August 1898 |
The Spanish Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which recognized those men of the U.S. military who had served in the Spanish–American War. Although a single decoration, there were two versions of the Spanish Campaign Medal, one for men of the United States Army and another for the forces of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps.[1][2]
The Army medal was designed by Francis Davis Millet while the Navy and Marines medals were designed by Rudolf Freund (1878–1960) of Bailey Banks & Biddle.[3][4]
Early versions of the Spanish Campaign Medal suspended the medal from a gold and red ribbon, but this design was changed in 1913 upon request from Spain that a United States service medal not bear the colors of the Spanish nation.[5] The new medal was suspended from a blue and yellow ribbon. Separate medallions existed for both the Navy and Army. Marine Corps recipients received the Navy version with the seal of the United States Marine Corps on the reverse of the medal.
The only device authorized to the Spanish Campaign Medal was the Citation Star and then only for U.S. Army recipients of the decoration.