French Liberation Medal

Medal of a liberated France
Medal of a liberated France (obverse)
Awarded by France
Type	Decoration
Eligibility	Military and civilian French and foreign nationals
Awarded for	Participation in the liberation of France in the Second World War
Status	Not awarded since 1957
Statistics
Established	12 September 1947
Last awarded	7 July 1957
Total awarded	13,469
Precedence
Next (higher)	Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1939–1945
Next (lower)	Insigne du réfractaire au STO
Ribbon of the Medal of a liberated France

The Medal of a liberated France (French: "Médaille de la France libérée") was a decoration of the French Republic created by decree on 12 September 1947 and originally named the "Medal of Gratitude of a Liberated France" (French: "Médaille de la Reconnaissance de la France Libérée"). It was intended as a reward for French and foreign nationals that had made a notable contribution to the liberation of France from the German occupation.

A decree of 7 October 1947 defined the medal's design and added it would be awarded under the authority of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Victims of War (French: Ministre des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de guerre) on advice from a board composed of twenty-one members including the President of the National Assembly, the Vice-President of the State Council, a representative of the National Council of the Resistance, a general officer and a representative of the Justice Ministry.

A later decree of 16 June 1948 gave it its present name and added a member from the Interior Ministry to the board charged with selecting recipients from the applications. A further decree of 4 June 1949 followed by ministerial instructions on 1 December 1950 redefined both the composition of the board and award prerequisites.

The board was composed of:

The Medal of a liberated France could be awarded:

Recipients of the following French awards received in conjunction with the liberation of France could not receive the Medal of a liberated France:

The Medal of a liberated France was a 35mm in diameter circular medal struck from bronze. The obverse bore the relief image of France with the relief date "1944" at its center. A relief chain encircles the image of France with two breaks in its links, one North-east, the other South-west, symbolizing the allied landings. The reverse bore the relief image of a Fasces below a Phrygian cap bisecting the initials "R.F." and the relief inscription "LA FRANCE A SES LIBERATEURS" (English: "FRANCE TO ITS LIBERATORS") along the upper and lower circumference.