History

The Iraq Medal was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of Australian Prime Minister John Howard in 2004. The Medal is awarded to members of the Australian Defence Force who served in the coalition operations in and around Iraq. Originally, the qualifying period for the Medal was 7 days as of 18 March 2003, but it was later changed to 30 days as of 1 May 2003. Participation in the following operations may qualify an individual for the Medal: Operation Falconer, Operation Catalyst, Operation Riverbank, and Operation Kruger.

The obverse of the medal features the Australian Coat of Arms.The obverse features a lion with the word ‘IRAQ’ underneath. The medal is suspended from a golden yellow ribbon with a central purple stripe with a thinner red stripe running down the middle.

Recipients are also eligible for the Iraq 2003 clasp on the Australian Active Service Medal.