A gold frame is an attachment to a military decoration which is issued by the militaries of some countries. The gold frame is designed to enclose an award ribbon and is usually a means of distinguishing the ribbon's special quality or denoting some additional achievement to the award's basic criteria.
The gold frame is normally an automatic attachment to a ribbon decoration. In certain cases, however, awards may be issued both with and without the gold frame depending upon the level of achievement. Such is the case in the United States Air Force which denotes the gold frame as a "gold border."
The gold frame and gold border is a device for ribbon awards only, and there are no provisions for issuing the attachment for medals.
Australia
The Australian Ministry of Defence created both unit awards in 1991 via Letters Patent. Unlike the U.S. awards, the Australian frames are flames, not laurel leaves.[1][2]
 Unit Citation for Gallantry
|
 Meritorious Unit Citation
|
Luxembourg
The Croix de Guerre unit award was given by Luxembourg to several units during World War II and the U.S. Army allowed soldiers attached to those units to wear the decoration as a temporary unit award. It is not worn with the frame by Luxembourg's military. The decoration was permitted by Department of the Army General Order No. 43.[3]
 Croix de Guerre unit award (Luxembourg)
|
Philippines
The award was first created in 1946 to honor U.S. military units and naval vessels that served in the defense and liberation of the Philippines. It has been awarded several times since including as recently as 2005.[4]
 Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation
|
Republic of Vietnam
These awards were created by the Republic of Vietnam and were awarded to U.S. military members throughout the Vietnam War.[5]
.png/1280px-Presidential_Unit_Citation_Vietnam_(Army_sized).png) Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation
|
Huy chương Tổng thống | State of Vietnam Friendship Ribbon |
 Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (Vietnam)
|
Anh-Dũng Bội-Tinh | |
 Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation (Vietnam)
|
Dân-Vụ Bội-Tinh |
South Korea
This award has been given to U.S. military units since 1950. The award was also given to a number of United Nations member state's military units during the Korean War.[6][7][8]
 Presidential Unit Citation (Korea)
|
대통령부대표창 |
United States
| Gold Frame / Border | |
|---|---|
US Army Gold Frame (above)
US Air Force / DHS / USPHS / Transportation (below) | |
| Type | Ribbon Device |
| Sponsored by |  United States Army
 Department of Transportation |
| Status | Currently Awarded |
| Established | 1941 |
Air Force
The U.S. Air Force called the attachment a Gold Border and uses the wider version of the attachment.[9] The emblems are a consistent 1 7/16 inches wide and 7/16 inches tall with a gold frame that is 1/16 inch of laurel leaves.[10] Use of the border shows the ribbon was awarded to individuals who were engaged in conducting or supporting combat operations in a designated combat zone; without indicates a non-combat area only in the case of the AFESR.[11]
 Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon (May be issued without gold border)
|
 Presidential Unit Citation (Version may be issued without gold border)
|
Army
The U.S. Army only uses the Gold frame attachment for unit awards in active service, reserve, national guard and state forces. The emblems are a consistent 1 7/16 inches wide and 9/16 inches tall with a gold frame that is 1/16 inch of laurel leaves.[12]
 Presidential Unit Citation
|
 Valorous Unit Award (Army)
|
 Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)
|
 Superior Unit Award (Army)
|
Homeland Security
 DHS Outstanding Unit Award
|
Joint Service Awards
Public Health Service
 Presidential Unit Citation (Public Health Service; A gold frame indicates a second award)[13]
|
Transportation Department
 Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award (USCG; now obsolete)
|
National Guard and State Guard Forces
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See also
- Awards and decorations of the United States military
- Awards and decorations of the National Guard
- Authorized foreign decorations of the United States military
- United States military award devices
Notes
- ^ "Meritorious Unit Citation". www.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "Unit Citation for Gallantry". www.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "Department of the Army General Orders No. 43" (PDF). DVIDS. December 19, 1950.
- ^ "Philippine Revolution Web Cantral - CPP primers". philippinerevolution.nu. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "Army Regulation 600–8–22 Military Awards" (PDF). Military Times. June 25, 2015.
- ^ "Ελληνικό Εκστρατευτικό Σώμα στην Κορέα-ΕΚΣΕ (1950 -1955)". Θεματα Στρατιωτικης Ιστοριας (in Greek). 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "Netherlands". www.korean-war.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "2 Squadron". www.af.mil.za. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). static.e-publishing.af.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-10-07. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "Ribbon Attachments: Frame - small". Vanguard. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
- ^ "Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon". Air Force's Personnel Center. Archived from the original on 2025-06-08. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "U.S. Army Service, Campaign Medals and Foreign Awards Information". NATICK. Archived from the original on 2025-10-17. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- ^ "COMMISSIONED CORPS INSTRUCTION 511.01" (PDF). Commissioned Corps Issuance System (CCIS). US Department of Health and Human Services. 19 January 2021. p. 7. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
