Rest of the World

The National Defence Medal (French: "Médaille de la Défense nationale") is a French military decoration. It was created by Charles Hernu, Minister of Defence and established by decree on 21 April 1982. It rewards particularly honourable service rendered by military personnel for their participation in operational activities. The medal has three levels: Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

AVIATION LEGERE – Light Aviation. The National Defence Medal is a 36 mm in diameter circular medal struck from bronze, the gold level is gilt, the silver award is silvered. The obverse bears the relief image of Rude's Marseillaise with the relief inscription along the upper circumference "FRENCH REPUBLIC" (French: RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE). The reverse bears the relief image of a Phrygian cap over a laurel branch and the inscription along the medal circumference in the upper half "ARMY" and "NATION", in the lower half "NATIONAL DEFENSE" (French: "ARMÉE" "NATION" "DÉFENSE NATIONALE"), the upper and lower inscriptions being separated by a relief five pointed star on each side.

The medal hangs from a ring through the medal's suspension loop. The bronze grade award's ribbon is a 36 mm wide red silk moiré ribbon with a 12 mm wide central blue stripe. The ribbon for the silver grade award is similar with the addition of 3 mm wide white edge stripes, the edge stripes are yellow for the gold grade award.

Reference 648