General Campaign Star (Canada)

General Campaign Star
The General Campaign Star with the original version of bars
Awarded by the monarch of Canada
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	All members of the Canadian Forces
Awarded for	Service in operations in the presence of an armed enemy.
Campaign(s)	Various.
Status	Currently awarded
Statistics
Established	7 July 2004
First awarded	29 November 2004
Precedence
Next (higher)	South-West Asia Service Medal
Next (lower)	General Service Medal
Ribbon bar for Allied Force GCS Ribbon bar for South-West Asia GCS Ribbon bar for Expedition GCS

The General Campaign Star (French: Étoile de campagne générale) is a campaign medal created in 2004 by the Canadian monarch-in-Council to recognize members of the Canadian Forces who had directly participated in any military campaign under Canadian or allied command. It is, within the Canadian system of honours, the sixth highest of the war and operational service medals.

The General Campaign Star is in the form of a 44 millimetres (1.7 in) wide compass star Celeste with, on the obverse, a wreath of maple leaves surrounding a superimposed composition of two crossed swords (representing the Army), an anchor (symbolizing the Navy), and a soaring eagle (representing the Air Force), all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown, evoking the sovereign's roles as both fount of honour and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces. On the reverse is a space for engraving the recipient's name and rank between the reigning monarch's Royal Cypher topped by another crown above and a sprig of three maple leaves below.

This medallion is worn at the left chest, suspended on a 31.8mm wide ribbon coloured with vertical stripes in Canada's official colours of red and white flanking a central band in green, representing service. The accompanying medal bars are rectangular in shape with raised edges and bear the name of the campaign for which they are being presented; the first is worn centred on the ribbon, while additional bars are evenly spaced and arranged in the chronological order earned, with the eldest at the bottom, closest to the medal. For wear on undress, a silver, gold, or red maple leaf is pinned to the ribbon bar, denoting, respectively, the award of a second, third, or fourth or subsequent bar.