Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard

Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard are military medals and ribbons of the United States Coast Guard which are currently issued under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security.

Prior to 2002, such awards were issued by the Secretary of Transportation and Coast Guard personnel were eligible to receive a variety of Department of Transportation (DOT) civilian decorations. Since transferring to the Department of Homeland Security, the issuance of DOT awards has been discontinued in the Coast Guard, although such awards may still be seen on active duty Coast Guard uniforms.

Coast Guard military awards are similar to U.S. Navy awards (often with nearly identical ribbons save for an additional white stripe) and Coast Guard personnel are eligible to receive all inter-service awards and decorations, authorized foreign awards and international decorations.

The current active awards and decorations of the U.S. Coast Guard are as follows:^[1]

Coast Guard Medals[]

Coast Guard Cross	Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal	Coast Guard Medal	Coast Guard Commendation Medal	Coast Guard Achievement Medal	Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal

Coast Guard Good Conduct Medals[]

Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal	Coast Guard Reserve Good Conduct Medal

Coast Guard Lifesaving Medals[]

Gold Lifesaving Medal	Silver Lifesaving Medal

Coast Guard Unit Awards[]

Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation	Coast Guard Unit Commendation	Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation	Meritorious Team Commendation	Coast Guard "E" Ribbon	DHS Outstanding Unit Award

Coast Guard Ribbons[]

Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon	Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon	Enlisted Person of the Year Ribbon	Special Operations Service Ribbon	Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon

Restricted Duty Ribbon	Coast Guard Overseas Service Ribbon	Coast Guard Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon	Coast Guard Recruiting Service Ribbon

Coast Guard Marksmanship Awards/Medals[]

Coast Guard Distinguished Marksman Award/Badge	Coast Guard Distinguished Pistol Shot Award/Badge	Coast Guard Rifleman Excellence-In-Competition Award/Badge (Rifleman EIC Badges earned at national matches have the word "NATIONAL" etched at their base.)	Coast Guard Pistol Shot Excellence-In-Competition Award/Badge (Pistol Shot EIC Badges earned at national matches have the word "NATIONAL" etched at their base.)

President's Hundred Tab
Enlisted Only

Coast Guard Expert Rifleman Medal	Coast Guard Expert Pistol Shot Medal

Coast Guard Rifle Sharpshooter Ribbon	Coast Guard Pistol Sharpshooter Ribbon	Coast Guard Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon	Coast Guard Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon

Order of precedence[]

The following is the ribbon order of precedence authorized for wear by the U.S. Coast Guard. The list contains awards and decorations for the departments of Defense (including Army, Navy and Air Force), Homeland Security and Transportation:

Key:

Bold = denotes agency-level (DHS or DOT) award or U.S. Coast Guard award

Bold italic = denotes U.S. Coast Guard award is obsolete

Italic = denotes award is obsolete

• Personal decorations

Medal of Honor	Coast Guard Cross	Navy Cross	Distinguished Service Cross	Air Force Cross	Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal
Transportation Distinguished Service Medal	Defense Distinguished Service Medal	Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal	Navy Distinguished Service Medal	Army Distinguished Service Medal	Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Silver Star	DOT's Secretary Award for Outstanding Achievement	Defense Superior Service Medal	Guardian Medal	Legion of Merit	Distinguished Flying Cross
Coast Guard Medal	Navy and Marine Corps Medal	Soldier's Medal	Airman's Medal	Gold Lifesaving Medal	Bronze Star
Purple Heart	Defense Meritorious Service Medal	Meritorious Service Medal	Air Medal	Silver Lifesaving Medal	Aerial Achievement Medal
	Joint Service Commendation Medal	Coast Guard Commendation Medal	Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal	Army Commendation Medal	Air Force Commendation Medal
	Joint Service Achievement Medal	Transportation 9-11 Medal	Coast Guard Achievement Medal	Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal	Army Achievement Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal	Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon	Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon	Navy Combat Action Ribbon (Navy/Marine Corps)

• Unit decorations

	Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation	Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation	Army and Air Force Presidential Unit Citation	Joint Meritorious Unit Award	Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award
Coast Guard Unit Commendation	Navy Unit Commendation	Air Force Gallant Unit Citation	Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation	Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation	Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
Meritorious Team Commendation	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	Coast Guard "E" Ribbon	Navy "E" Ribbon	Air Force Organizational Excellence Award	Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation

• Conduct medals

Prisoner of War Medal	Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal	Navy Good Conduct Medal	Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal	Army Good Conduct Medal	Air Force Good Conduct Medal
	Coast Guard Reserve Good Conduct Medal	Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal	Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal	Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal	Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal

• U.S. service, campaign and training awards
• Authorized non-U.S. service awards and foreign decorations
• Marksmanship awards

References[]