How to Display Military Medals: 3 Ways to Show Your Military Pride

If you’re a military veteran, odds are great that you have earned military medals over the course of your time in uniform. Some of those awards were hard-earned, others were simply added to your record because you participated in a particular operation or event. Regardless of how the awards came to you, it’s important to know how to display military medals.

Hopefully, USAMM’s short list of tips can help guide you as you decide how to display military medals for yourself or a loved one.

How to Display Military Medals: Ribbon Rack Sticker
A sticky rack is a great way to show your military pride. Racks can be designed and organized online and then delivered right to your home. A toolbox, garage wall, laptop, automobile or truck are great places to place sticky ribbon racks.

Some argue that attention-seeking people place these stickers on their vehicles. Arguments like that don’t take into consideration that an entire generation of American warfighter, the Vietnam veteran, returned from war and got little to no recognition for their service. Naturally, now, some Vietnam veterans and other Cold War era veterans might be inclined to show pride in their military service since they were unable to years ago. This is in sharp contrast to modern veterans who have mostly received overwhelming public support and recognition for their service.

The arguments about how to display military medals on a sticky rack will continue with some thinking veterans are seeking attention if they use a sticky rack on something, and others content to proudly display their achievements for others to see. It is a personal choice.

How to Display Military Medals: Shadow Box
Whether you are doing it for yourself or a loved one, a shadow box is great way to answer the question, how to display military medals? USAMM has great tools, like the shadow box builder, that makes it really easy to assemble a shadow box.

Shadow boxes are fantastic ways to store and display military keepsakes. If you are putting together your own military shadow box, ensure it captures the essence of your military service. You can put what you want in it; patches, medals, ribbons, badges and even mementos like MRE hot sauce bottles or c-ration can openers. How to display military medals becomes less important because you are building a box for yourself; to keep your military items stored safely.

However, it is good to consider how to display military medals when you are putting together a shadow box for a family member or another loved one. If assembling a shadow box for a friend or family member, ensure you get the proper documentation from the military branch’s human resources office. This will enable you to purchase medals from military uniform outlets or request military awards from the federal government. While it is true that you can request awards as the next of kin at no charge, these requests can sometimes take months, if not years, to fulfill. Sometimes, purchasing the medals is best, but if you’d like to try to get them gratis from the government, read this article that explains how.

How to Display Military Medals: Ribbon Racks
Obviously if you are still on active, National Guard or reserve status, there will come a time when you need to wear your Class A uniform and your ribbon rack. This tends to be the most popular way on how to display military medals.

There are numerous occasions for service personnel to wear ribbon racks. Class A inspections, special events, military school graduations all might require a freshly updated ribbon rack. How to display military medals on your ribbon racks is guided mostly by uniform regulations of each particular service when you are wearing ribbon racks.

If you are putting together a ribbon rack for a veteran, remember that how to display military medals on a ribbon rack or in civilian attire is guided by uniform regulations of each branch. Simply because they are veterans, that status does not give military veterans the authority to wear military medals incorrectly.

The bottom line is that there are multiple ways on how to display military medals. Hopefully this guide helps.