Established on 1st April 1999 the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) was awarded to all ranks of the volunteer reserve that completed ten years’ continuous service within the Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Marines Reserve, the Army Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. A clasp is awarded for each additional 5 years' service.

The Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) replaced the Royal Naval Reserve Decoration, the Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, the Efficiency Decoration, the Efficiency Medal and the Air Efficiency Award from 1st April 1999.

Members of the Honourable Artillery Company receive the same medal but with their own ribbon.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – Dark green with three narrow central stripes of dark blue, scarlet and light blue, separated from the green by two narrow stripes of gold. Ribbon colours represents each of the services, with narrow stripes of dark blue for the Navy, scarlet for the Army and light blue for the Royal Air Force, separated by a thin strip of yellow from dark green bands representing the Reserves. Members of the Honourable Artillery Company receive the same medal but with their own ribbon, this being of dark blue and red, edged with narrow yellow stripes—the Sovereign’s personal colours

Volunteer Reserves Service Medal ribbon

Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (HAC) ribbon

Suspender - Ring

Type – Long service medal

Eligibility – All members of the Reserves of all of the branches of the British Armed Forces

Awarded for – 10 years' qualifying service

Established – 1st April 1999

Clasps / Bar – A clasp is awarded for each additional 5 years' service

Description – The medal is a silver oval, 38mm high and 32mm wide. The obverse depicts an image of the sovereign’s effigy. The reverse of the award has the wording on five lines, FOR SERVICE IN THE VOLUNTEER RESERVES, above a sprig of oak leaves and acorns.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

< gov.uk/medals-campaigns-descriptions-and-eligibility>

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Reserves_Service_Medal >

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.