- Time Period: Post-WW2
- Year of Institution: 1953
- Country: Great Britain
The South African Medal for Korea is a military campaign medal instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1953 and awarded to volunteers of the Union Defence Forces for service in Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
More than 200 officers and some 545 other ranks saw action in Korea between 1950 and 1953, along with some members from other branches of the Union Defence Forces. South Africa’s primary contribution to the United Nations Command during the Korean War was the Flying Cheetahs, 2 Squadron of the South African Air Force. During the Korean War, South African pilots flew altogether 2,890 operational missions, during which 34 pilots and two ground crew were killed in action or listed as missing in action.
The South African Medal for Korea Design
The medal is struck in silver and measures 38 mm in diameter. Around the edge is a laurel wreath, the left branch spreading from the bottom of the medal to the top, while the right branch is shorter to allow space for the inscription “KOREA”.
The obverse has the words “VRYWILLIGERS” and “VOLUNTEERS”, with outlines of the maps of the Korean Peninsula and South Africa, including South-West Africa. The maps are connected by a line with an arrowhead at each end and five wavy lines. Superimposed on the map of South Africa are the inscriptions “U. van S-A.” and “U. of S.A.”
The reverse bears the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms and Queen Elizabeth II’s royal cipher (E II R) above the Coat of Arms.
The ribbon is 32 millimeters wide, with a 6 millimeters wide orange band and a 5 millimeters wide dark blue band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 10 millimeters wide light blue band in the center. The medal number is impressed at the bottom of the medal on the rim.
