Volunteer Reserve Decoration

Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
King Edward VII and first King George V versions with original all-green ribbons
Awarded by the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India
Country	United Kingdom
Type	Military long service decoration
Eligibility	Part-time commissioned officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Awarded for	Twenty years service
Status	Still current in New Zealand
Clasps	Ten years additional service
Post-nominals	VD until c. 1947 VRD from c. 1947
Statistics
Established	1908
Last awarded	1966
Order of wear
Next (higher)	Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve
Next (lower)	Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Original and post-1919 ribbon bars

The Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, post-nominal letters VD until c. 1947 and VRD thereafter, was instituted in 1908. It could be awarded to part-time commissioned officers in the United Kingdom's Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve after twenty years of service as efficient and thoroughly capable officers. The decoration was a Naval version of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and its successor, the Territorial Decoration.

The decoration could also be awarded to part-time commissioned officers in the Naval Volunteer Reserves of Colonial Auxiliary Forces throughout the British Empire.

The award of the decoration was discontinued in the United Kingdom in 1966, when the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, composed of civilian volunteers, was merged with the Royal Naval Reserve, composed of Merchant Navy seamen. It was superseded by its identical sister decoration, the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve.

The New Zealand version, the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration, is still being awarded.

In 1892, the Volunteer Officers' Decoration was instituted as an award for long and meritorious service by officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. In 1894, the grant of the decoration was extended by Royal Warrant to commissioned officers of volunteer forces throughout the British Empire and a separate new decoration was instituted, the Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies.

In 1899, the Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies was superseded by the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration, for award to part-time commissioned officers of the Dominion of Canada and the British Colonies, Dependencies and Protectorates.

On 17 August 1908, the Volunteer Officers' Decoration was superseded in the United Kingdom by the Territorial Decoration. Prior to the institution of this new decoration, a pair of distinctive Naval decorations had been instituted specifically to reward long and meritorious service by part-time officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, composed of Merchant Navy seamen, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, composed of civilian volunteers.