How to Build Military Ribbons
Military ribbons allow service members to display on their uniform the awards and medals they have earned personally or as a member of an awarded unit. Each ribbon represents a different award or medal. Some ribbons are branch-specific, but most are jointly used across the armed services. Building your military ribbons properly is key to presenting your hard-earned awards accurately. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Lay out your ribbons on a flat surface, arranged in the correct order of precedence. For most working uniforms, ribbons will be placed above the left breast pocket. As such, ribbons should be arranged so that highest to lowest precedence is displayed left to right, top to bottom. To determine the relative precedence of each ribbon, reference your military branch's award precedence chart (see Resources).
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Slide each ribbon onto the ribbon bars in the correct order, using needle-nose pliers to widen or compress the back edges of each ribbon so it slides on smoothly, but grips the bar securely. Because each ribbon is made slightly different, a little finesse may be required in building your ribbons.
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Adjust the ribbons you've built on your ribbon bar so that the edges line up and all spaces between ribbons have been eliminated. The ribbons should be snug against each other; no ribbon bar should be visible between ribbons.
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Mount your newly built ribbons to your uniform as prescribed by the uniform regulations for your branch of service.
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Tips & Warnings
You are often responsible for attaining unit awards from your administration department or by purchasing the ribbons yourself. The military ribbons and ribbon mounting bars can be purchased on a base at the Exchange or online at the NEX or AAFES BX/PX websites, depending on your branch of service.
Attach any insignia or devices, like brass stars, to the ribbons before mounting them on your ribbon bars.
If your uniform calls for ribbons to be mounted above the right breast pocket, reverse the order of the ribbons, so precedence is from right to left, rather than left to right.
Ribbon precedence posters can typically be found in the uniform department of the base exchange.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit navy uniform image by Joann Cooper from Fotolia.com
