Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties
The Commemorative Medal Peacekeeping Operations is awarded to military personnel which participated in any peacekeeping operation for at least 30 days, without any break, and which have shown good conduct and sense of duty. By Royal Decree of 16 June, 2005, the medal’s criteria were altered to make the award also available to police officers, who also participate in peacekeeping operations (think of the Kosovo Police School).
It is a round medal, 35 millimetres in diameter and made of bronze. On the obverse is a hand, holding an upright sword and coming from a V-shaped cloud. Along the sword is a wrap of olive leaves. The sword is point to a sun, which rays fill up de remaining background.
On the reverse is the Dutch national coat-of-arms.
Ribbon
The ribbon is 27 millimetres wide with the following vertical stripes: white 2 mm, purple 4,5 mm, white 4 mm, red 2 mm., white 2 mm, blue 2 mm, white 4 mm, purple 4,5 mm and white 2 mm.
When only the ribbon is worn a silver numberal indicates the total number of clasps awarded.
Clasps
A bronze clasp can be worn on the ribbon. In case of a second award of the same clasp, a numberal is impressed on it (e.g. the clasp “SFOR” was awarded for the second time. In this case the clasp has “2 SFOR” on it, “3 SFOR”, “4 SFOR”, etc. The clasp being awarded first is worn at the bottom of the ribbon, second above that, the third above the second, et cetera.
Only four clasps may be worn on the ribbon. In case of a fifth clasp a new medal is worn to the right of the first medal. On the ribbon of this second medal one can also pin four clasps, after which a third medal is worn, et cetera.
The following clasps have been instituted. The first date given is the date of the Decree of the Minister of Defence by which it was instituted, other dates given are dates by which alterations were made to the clasp’s award criteria.
| Clasp | Decree | Awarded for |
| AMBER FOX | 14 June, 2002 | Awarded for participation in NATO-operation ‘Amber Fox’ within the boundaries of the Macedonian Republic. |
| BALKAN LUCHTOPERATIES | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation air operations in support of ‘Joint Forge’ and ‘Joint Guardian’. |
| ECPA | 14 June, 2002 | Awarded for participation in the EC-operation ‘European Community Police Assistance Project in Albania”. |
| ENDURING FREEDOM | 14 June, 2002 ; 6 July, 2005 | Awarded for participation in the multinational operation “Enduring Freedom”, within the area between the Red Sea, the Arabic Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Oman Gulf and the Persian Gulf, or within the boundaries and air space of the Arabic Peninsular en the Republics of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz and Afghanistan. |
| ESSENTIAL HARVEST | 14 June, 2002 | Awarded for participation in the NATO-operation “Essential Harvest”, within the boundaries of the Macedonian Republic. |
| EU OPERATIE CONCORDIA | 16 September, 2003 | Awarded for participation in the EU-led military operation “Concordia” in the Macedonian Republic, within Macedonian boundaries since March 2003. |
| EU OPERATIES | 6 July, 2005 ; 15 May, 2006 | Awarded for participation in the following EU-operations: 1.the “EUPOL Kinshasa” within the boundaries and air space of the Democratic Republic of Congo since March 2005; 2. the “Aceh Monitoring Mission” (AMM), within the boundaries and air space of the Republic of Indonesia, since September 2005; 3. the “Border Assistance Mission” (EUBAM), within Israeli - Palestinian area and air space since February 2006; 4. the “European Union Security-Financial Mission” (EUSEC), within the boundaries and air space of the Democratic Republic of Congo since May 2006. |
| EUFOR | 6 July, 2005 | Awarded for participation in EUFOR, within the boundaries and air space of the former state of Yugoslavia or the adjacent waters of the Adriatic Sea. |
| EUMM | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation in the European Union Monitor Mission. |
| EUPM | 16 September, 2003 ; 6 July, 2005 | Awarded for participation in the European Union Police Mission, within the boundaries of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina since September 2002, or within the boundaries of the Republic of Macedonia since December 2003. |
| FEDMAC | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation in the Federation Mine Action Center. |
| ISAF | 14 June, 2002 ; 6 July, 2005 ; 22 February, 2008 | Awarded for participation in the multinational peacekeeping operation International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, within the boundaries and air space of the Afghan Republic, from the airport of Termez (Uzbekistan) and the Minhad Airbase in the United Arab Emirates. |
| KFOR | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation in the Kosovo Force. |
| LUCHTVERDEDIGING TURKIJE | 16 September, 2003 | Awarded for participation in: 1. the Dutch military operation “Tulip Guardian” from 8 February, 2003 till 4 March, 2003; 2. the NATO-operation “Display Deterrence since 4 March, 2003 Both operations meant the deployment of Patriot Missile Launches in the air defence of Turkey. |
| MIF | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation in the Multinational Interception Force. |
| MINE ACTION CENTER | 16 September, 2003 | Awarded for participating in the Mine Action Center, worldwide, since September 2002. |
| MULTINATIONALE OPERATIES | 15 May, 2006 | Awarded for participation in the following multinational operations: 1. the “African Union Mission in Sudan” (AMIS), within the boundaries and air space of Sudan, since June 2005; 2. the “International Military Advisory Team in Sudan” (IMAT), within the boundaries and air space of Sudan, since November 2005. |
| NAVO OPERATIES | 6 July, 2005 | Awarded for participation in the following NATO operations: 1. the “NATO Training Implementation Mission Iraq” (NTIM-I), within the boundaries and air space of Iraq; 2. the “NATO Training Mission Iraq” (NTM-I), within in the boundaries and air space of Iraq. |
| OVSE ALBANIË | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participating in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s mission in Albania. |
| OVSE MACEDONIË | 14 June, 2002 | Awarded for participatin in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s mission within the boundaries of the Macedonian Republic. |
| OVSE MOLDAVIË | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participating in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s mission in Moldavia. |
| OVSE OPERATIES | 6 July, 2005 | Awarded for participation in the following Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe missions: 1. the OSCE operation “Kosovo Police Service School” (KPSS), since September 2001; 2. the OSCE Training Mission in Serbia and Montenegro since 2003. |
| SFOR | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation in the Stabilisation Force. |
| SFOR/EUFOR | 6 July, 2005 | Awarded for participation in the NATO-mission Stabilisation Force during the time of the transfer from SFOR to the European-operation EUFOR on 2 December 2004, within the boundaries and air space of the former Republic of Yugoslavia and the adjecent Adriatic Sea. |
| STABILISATION FORCE IRAK | 16 September, 2003 | Awarded for participation in the international Stablisation Force within the boundaries and air space of Iraq and the Arabic Peninsular since 25 June, 2003. |
| UNFICYP | 12 July, 2001 | For participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. |
| UNPTF | 12 July, 2001 | For participation in the United Nations Police Task Force. |
| UNMEE-DJIBOUTI | 12 July, 2001 | For participation in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea and Djibouti. |
| UNMIBH | 12 July, 2001 | For participation in the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. |
| UNMIL | 6 July, 2005 | For participation in the United Nations Mission in Liberia, within the boundaries and air space of Liberia and its adjacent waters. |
| UNTSO | 12 July, 2001 | For participation in the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation. |
| VN OPERATIES | 6 July, 2005 | For participation in the following UN-operations: 1. the “Opération des Nations Unies au Burundi” (ONUB), within the boundaries and air space of the Republic Burundi; 2. the United Nations Advanced Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), within the boundaries and air space of the Republic of Sudan; 3. the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP), within the boundaries and air space of Iraq and on the airport of Amman (Jordan); 4. the “Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo” (MONUC), within the boundaries and airspace of the Peoples Republic of Congo' 5. the United Nation Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), within the boundaries and air space of the Republic of Sudan. |
| WEU MAPE | 12 July, 2001 | Awarded for participation in the West-European Union Multinational Advisory Police Element. |
"Wijziging Besluit gespen Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties", Staatscourant 2006, nr. 101, pag. 13
"Besluit van 16 juni 2005 tot wijziging van het Besluit Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties in verband met toekenning van de herinneringsmedaille aan ambtenaren van politie", Staatsblad 2005, nr. 142
"Wijziging Besluit gespen Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties", Staatscourant 2005, nr. 157, pag. 6
"Wijziging Besluit gespen Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties", Staatscourant 2003, nr. 187, pag. 10
"Wijziging Besluit gespen Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties", Staatscourant 2002, nr. 205, pag. 16
"Besluit gespen Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties", Staatscourant 2001, nr. 137, pag. 6
"Besluit van 23 maart 2001, houdende instelling van de Herinneringsmedaille Vredesoperaties alsmede intrekking van het Besluit Herinneringsmedaille VN-Vredesoperaties en het Besluit Herinneringsmedaille Multinationale Vredesoperaties", Staatsblad 2001, nr. 186
Image was used from the website of the Department of Defence
With special thanks to A. Phielix and O. Bolt