Gulf and Kuwait Medal

Gulf and Kuwait Medal
Obverse of the Gulf and Kuwait Medal
Awarded by the monarch of Canada
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	All members of the Canadian Forces.
Awarded for	Campaign service.
Campaign	Gulf War (1990-1991)
Clasps	Direct combat for a minimum of one day between 16 January 1991 and 3 March 1991
Statistics
Established	2 August 1990
Total awarded	4,109
Precedence
Next (higher)	Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea
Next (lower)	Somalia Medal
Ribbon of the Gulf and Kuwait Medal

The Gulf and Kuwait Medal (French: Médaille du Golfe et du Koweït, or Médaille du Golfe et du Kuwait) was a campaign medal created in 1990 by the Canadian monarch-in-Council to recognize members of the Canadian Forces who had directly participated in the Gulf War, either in the hostilities themselves or during the troop build-up prior to the invasion of Iraq. It is, within the Canadian system of honours, the third highest of the war and operational service medals.

Designed by Bruce W. Beatty, the Gulf and Kuwait Medal is in the form of a 36 millimetres (1.4 in) diameter rhodium plated tombac disc with, on the obverse, the Latin words ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen) and CANADA surrounding an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, symbolizing her roles as both fount of honour and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces. On the reverse is a laurel wreath with a maple leaf at its base encircling the words: GULF AND KUWAIT • 1990-1991 • LE GOLFE ET KUWAIT.

This medallion is worn at the left chest, suspended on a 31.8mm wide ribbon coloured with vertical stripes in light blue (representing the Air Command), scarlet (representing the Land Force Command), and dark blue (recalling the Maritime Command), symmetrically flanking a sand coloured central stripe. Originally, the Gulf and Kuwait medal was to have coincidentally had the same ribbon as the British Gulf Medal; only after the manufacturer of the ribbon informed the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall were the two shades of blue on the Canadian version reversed.