World War I Victory Medal
date: label: Date
content: 1919
name: label: Created by
content: United States Armed Forces, American, founded 1775
label: Designed by
content: James Earle Fraser, American, 1876 - 1953
notes: label: Caption
content: Instituted in 1919, the Victory Medal was awarded to every person who served in the military during World War I. Most Allied nations created victory medals, all with similar rainbow ribbons.
label: Description
content: A World War I Victory Medal designed by the American sculptor, James Earle Fraser, and issued by the United States Army or Navy in 1919. The bronze medal consists of a horizontal metal band with the word "FRANCE" across the front, which demonstrates the the original recipient of this medal completed thier service during WWI in France. This medal band is attached to a rainbow colored piece of ribbon. Attached to the bottom of the ribbon is the medal itself which features a winged Victory holding a shield and sword on the front. The back of the medal features "THE GREAT WAR FOR CIVILIZATION" in capital letters curved along the top of the medal. Curved along the bottom of the back of the medal are six stars, three on either side of the center column of seven staffs wrapped in a cord. The top of the staff has a round ball on top and is winged on the sides. The staff is on top of a shield that says "U" on the left side of the staff and "S" on the right side of the staff. On the left side of the staff it lists one country per line in all capital letters "FRANCE/ ITALY/ SERBIA/ JAPAN/ MONTENEGRO/ RUSSIA/ GREECE." On the right side of the staff the country names are "GREAT BRITAIN/ BELGIUM/ BRZIL/ PORTUGAL/ RUMANIA/ CHINA."
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: World War I
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Awards, Medals, and Insignia
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2011.155.236
objectType: label: Type
content: medals
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: bronze and ribbon
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 2 15/16 × 1 1/2 × 1/8 in. (7.5 × 3.8 × 0.3 cm)