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.

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| Unit Citation for Gallantry

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| Meritorious Unit Citation

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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.

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| Croix de Guerre unit award (Luxembourg)

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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.

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| Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation

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Republic of Vietnam

These awards were created by the Republic of Vietnam and were awarded to U.S. military members throughout the Vietnam War.

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| Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation

|Huy chương Tổng thống

|State of Vietnam Friendship Ribbon

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| Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (Vietnam)

|Anh-Dũng Bội-Tinh

|

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| 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.

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| Presidential Unit Citation (Korea)

|대통령부대표창

|}

United States

Air Force

The U.S. Air Force called the attachment a Gold Border and uses the wider version of the attachment. 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. 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.

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| Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon (May be issued without gold border)

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| Presidential Unit Citation (Version may be issued without gold border)

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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.

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| Presidential Unit Citation

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| Valorous Unit Award (Army)

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| Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)

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| Superior Unit Award (Army)

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Homeland Security

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| DHS Outstanding Unit Award

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Joint Service Awards

Joint Meritorious Unit Award

Public Health Service

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| Presidential Unit Citation (Public Health Service; A gold frame indicates a second award)

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Transportation Department

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| Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award (USCG; now obsolete)

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National Guard and State Guard Forces

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| State Guard Association of the United States Superior Unit Citation

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| Military Emergency Management Specialist Academy Unit Citation

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| Alabama State Defense Force Outstanding Unit Commendation

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| Alaska Governors Distinguished Unit Citation

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| California Governor's Outstanding Unit Citation

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| California Commanding General's Meritorious Unit Citation

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| California State Military Reserve Governor's Outstanding Unit Citation

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| Delaware National Guard Governor's Meritorious Unit Award

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| Delaware National Guard Unit Strength Award

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| Florida Governor's Meritorious Unit Citation

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| Georgia Distinguished Unit Ribbon

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| Georgia State Defense Force Outstanding Unit Citation

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| Idaho Governor's Outstanding Unit Citation

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| Idaho Adjutant General's Excellence Award

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| Indiana Guard Reserve Superior Unit Citation

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| Iowa Outstanding Unit Award

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| Louisiana F.E. Herbert Meritorious Unit Commendation

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| Maryland Adjutant General's Special Recognition Ribbon

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| Massachusetts Meritorious Unit Citation

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| Mississippi State Guard Outstanding Unit Citation

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| Nevada Governor's Outstanding Unit Award

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| New Jersey Governor's Unit Award

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| New Jersey Unit Strength Award

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| New Mexico Outstanding Unit Citation

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| New York Guard Commander's Citation

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| North Carolina Governor's Unit Citation

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| North Carolina Meritorious Unit Citation

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| North Carolina Outstanding Unit Award

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| North Dakota State Outstanding Unit Citation

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| North Dakota Governor's Outstanding Unit Citation

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| Ohio Military Reserve Commanding General's Meritorious Unit Service Award

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| Oklahoma Governor's Distinguished Unit Award

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| Oklahoma Commander’s Trophy Award Ribbon

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| Oregon Superior Unit Ribbon

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| Pennsylvania Governor's Unit Citation

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| Rhode Island Gubernatorial Unit Award

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| South Carolina Governor's Unit Citation

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| South Carolina State Guard Outstanding Unit Citation

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| South Carolina State Guard Unit Achievement Award

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| South Dakota Desert Storm Unit Citation

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| South Dakota Unit Citation

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| South Dakota Distinguished Unit Award

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| Tennessee Meritorious Unit Citation

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| Tennessee Distinguished Unit Citation

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| Tennessee Outstanding Unit Performance Commendation

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| Tennessee Volunteer Recruiting and Retention Unit Citation

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| Texas Governor's Unit Citation

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| Texas Organizational Excellence Unit Award

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| Texas State Guard Meritorious Unit Award

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| Virginia Defense Force Unit Readiness Citation (Dead Eye)

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| Washington Unit Citation

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| West Virginia Distinguished Unit Award

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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