The Vietnam Medal was instituted in 1968 and awarded for service in Vietnam between 29 May 1964 and 27 January 1973. Service from 24 December 1962 until 29 May 1964 was recognised by the General Service Medal 1962 with clasp South Vietnam.
The Vietnam Medal was issued under the Imperial system but was mainly awarded to Australian and New Zealand personnel.
Design
The medal is cupro-nickel with the effigy of the Queen on the obverse.
The reverse bears the words Vietnam above the symbolic representation of the ideological war in Vietnam depicted by the figure of a man between spherical shapes.
The ribbon has 3 central pin stripes of red on a yellow background to represent the Republic of Vietnam flag. Beside this are stripes of red, dark blue and light blue representing the Army, Navy and Air Force.