The Commemorative Cross for the Operations in the Persian Gulf is an Italian award created to commemorate Italy’s participation in the Gulf War (1990-1991). Italy has been a part, in accordance to its long history of peacekeeping activities, of numerous UN missions and sub-regional peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of these missions were accompanied by a series of crosses and distinct ribbon combinations.
The code name given to the contribution of the Italian Air Force in the Gulf War was Operazione Locusta. Following the invasion and annexation of Kuwait by Iraq (September 25, 1990) the Italian Government sent eight multi-role fighter bombers Tornado IDS to the Persian gulf. The bombers belonged to the 6º, 36º and 50º Stormo, which were deployed at the Al Dhafra Air Base, in United Arab Emirates. The deployment of Italian aircraft was part of the international security system implemented by UN Security Council Resolution 678.
The use of Italian aircraft as part of the Desert Storm operation represented the first operational employment in combat missions of Italian Air Force aircraft after the end of World War II. The RF104-G returned to Italy on March 11, 1991.
The Cross for the Operations in the Persian Gulf Design
The medal is a silver cross. The ribbon is yellow with a central green, white and red stripe.
In some cases the mission medals were issued with bronze (silver in the case of Afghanistan) bars to denote the specific mission. For earlier missions, the planchet was engraved with the name of the mission.
