The Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions (Médaille Commémorative pour Missions ou Opérations à l’Étranger / Herinneringsmedaille voor Buitenlandse Opdrachten of Operaties) is a military decoration of Belgium established on 13 April 1993 and awarded to military and civilian members of the Belgian Armed Forces who participated in operations or missions outside of the territory of Belgium.
The medal is awarded to those who participated in good standing, in humanitarian, peacekeeping, peace enforcement or international security operations or missions outside the territory of Belgium for a minimum duration of one month. The list of the operations for which the medal is awarded is included in a separate Ministerial Decree, which is amended on a regular basis. If a person participated in more than one such operation, they receive the medal for each of these operations, the number of awards being represented by the number displayed on the ribbon.
The Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions Design
The medal is circular and is struck from bronze.
The obverse of the medal bears the Escutcheon-only version of the Coat of arms of Belgium under the royal crown and surrounded by the text “Missions ou opérations à l’étranger – Buitenlandse opdrachten of operaties”. The reverse bears a laurel crown along the outer circumference. The blank area within the wreath may be used to engrave the recipients’ name and date of the award.
The ribbon is golden with three thin longitudinal stripes of black, green, and black near the outer edges. The ribbon is adorned with an Arabic numeral that denotes the number of operations or missions the recipient has participated in.
