Medal engraving is limited to 45 characters including spaces and full stops.
Bigbury Mint uses the “Diamond Drag” method of medal engraving an example of which is shown here;
Medal engraving is carried out as per the following guidance.
(Should you wish us to engrave a medal differently, please let us know using the “Additional Comments” section of the medal purchase form)
Medal Engraving for medals issued prior to January 1st 2009
Medal engraving for all medals issued prior to January 1st 2009 will be as follows (using capital letters and full stops as appropriate);
ALL MEDALS
SERVICE NUMBER | RANK | INITIALS | SURNAME | SERVICE or REGIMENT
Medal Engraving for medals issued after January 1st 2009
For medals issued after January 1st 2009 we will engrave in accordance with the instructions from JSP761, which came into effect as a Tri-Service initiative (1).
ROYAL NAVY
RANK | INITIALS | SURNAME (Post Nominal) | RN(2) | SERVICE NUMBER
ROYAL MARINES
RANK | INITIALS | SURNAME (Post Nominal) | RM | SERVICE NUMBER
ARMY
RANK | INITIALS | SURNAME (Post Nominal) | REGIMENT(3) | SERVICE NUMBER
ROYAL AIR FORCE
RANK | INITIALS | SURNAME (Post Nominal) | RAF | SERVICE NUMBER
ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY
RANK | INITIALS | SURNAME (Post Nominal) | RFA
CIVILIAN
TITLE | INITIALS | SURNAME (Post Nominal)
USE OF ACTING RANK
The ranks held at the time of qualification for the award of the medal should be engraved on the medal. eg an Acting Captain at the time of award of a medal would have the rank of Captain engraved on the medal.
1. Chapter 12 – 12.29 – JSP761
2. By convention RAdm, VAdm and Adm do not have RN annotated after their names
3. Members of the Army General Staff (Colonels and above) are annotated STAFF.
