View source for Canadian Forces' Decoration

{{short description|Canadian award bestowed upon members of the Canadian Armed Forces}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox military award
| name = Canadian Forces' Decoration
| image =
| image_size = 140px
| caption = 
| presenter = The [[Monarchy of Canada|Monarch of Canada]]
| type = Long service and good conduct medal
| eligibility = Members of the Canadian Forces
| awarded_for = 12 years service with the Regular or Reserve forces
| status = Currently awarded
| description = 
| clasps = Bars awarded for every 10 years thereafter
| post-nominals = CD
| established = 15 December 1949
| firstawarded = 7 June 1951
| lastawarded = 
| total_awarded = 
| total_awarded_posthumously = 
| total_recipients = 
| higher = {{ubl|[[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Service Medal]] (Canada)|[[Special Constabulary Long Service Medal]] (UK)}}
| lower = {{ubl|[[Police Exemplary Service Medal]] (Canada)|[[Royal Observer Corps Medal]] (UK)}}
| individual = 
| same = 
| image2 = [[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon.svg|90px]] – 12 years<br><br>
[[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon with one bar.svg|90px]] – 22 years<br><br>
[[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon with two bars.svg|90px]] – 32 years<br><br>
[[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon with three bars.svg|90px]] – 42 years<br><br>
[[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon with four bars.svg|90px]] – 52 years<br><br>
[[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon with five bars.svg|90px]] – 62 years
| caption2 = [[Ribbon bar]]s and rosettes
}}

The '''Canadian Forces' Decoration''' ([[post-nominal letters]] "'''CD'''") is a Canadian award bestowed upon members of the [[Canadian Armed Forces]] who have completed twelve years of military service, with certain conditions.<ref name=CFSite>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/chc-tdh/chart-tableau-eng.asp?ref=CD|title=Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD) – Canadian Honours Chart – Directorate of Honours and Recognition|publisher=Department of National Defence – Government of Canada|year=2008|access-date=24 June 2009|archive-date=21 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321011817/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/chc-tdh/chart-tableau-eng.asp?ref=CD|url-status=dead}}</ref> By convention, it is also given to the [[governor general of Canada]] upon their appointment, which includes the title of [[Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada]].<ref name=VACSite>{{cite web|url=http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group11/cfd|title=Efficiency and Long Service Decorations and Medals – Canadian Forces Decoration – CD|publisher=Veterans Affairs Canada|year=2001|access-date=5 October 2010}}</ref> The decoration is awarded to all ranks, who must have a good record of conduct during the final eight years of claimed service.<ref name=CFSite/>

The first governor general to receive the CD was [[Viscount Alexander of Tunis]] in 1951.<ref name=SystemBook>{{cite book|last=McCreery|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher McCreery|title=The Canadian Honours System|publisher=[[Toronto]]: Dundurn Press|year=2005|isbn=9781550025545}}</ref> The medal was initially awarded to all members of the Royal Family who served in the Canadian Forces, even without completion of twelve years of service; this has, however, not been automatic since 1953.<ref name=SystemBook/>

==Criteria==
The decoration is awarded to officers and non-commissioned members of the Regular and Reserve forces, including honorary appointments within the Canadian Armed Forces. However, time served while on the Supplementary Reserve List does not apply.  The medal may be awarded to persons in possession of any long service, good conduct, or efficiency decoration or medal clasps, provided that the individual has completed the full qualifying periods of service for each award and that no service qualifying towards one award is permitted to count towards any other.

Service in the regular and reserve or auxiliary forces of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] is counted towards the decoration if the final five years have been served with the Canadian Armed Forces and no other long service, good conduct, or efficiency medal has been awarded for the same service.

==Appearance==
The medal is decagonal (ten-sided, representing the ten provinces), 36 millimetres across the flats, with raised busts.<ref name=CFSite/> The King George&nbsp;VI medal is .800 fine silver and gilded. The Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II and King Charles III medal is [[tombac]] (a copper-zinc alloy). A gilded copper version was introduced in 2008. The King George&nbsp;VI medal has the uncrowned coinage head of [[King George&nbsp;VI]], facing left, with the inscription {{lang|la|Georgius&nbsp;VI D: G: Britt: omn: Rex Fid: Def}}{{efn|{{langx|la|Dei gratia Britanniarum omnium Rex Fidei Defensor|lit=By the grace of God of all the {{not a typo|Britains}} King, Defender of the Faith}}}} around the edge. The Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II medal has the uncrowned coinage head of Queen [[Elizabeth&nbsp;II]], facing right, with the inscription around the edge {{lang|la|Elizabeth&nbsp;II Dei gratia Regina}}{{efn|{{lit|By the grace of God Queen}}}} with the word ''Canada'' at the bottom. The King Charles&nbsp;III medal has the uncrowned head of King Charles III, facing right with the inscription around the edge {{lang|la|Charles&nbsp;III Dei gratia Rex}}{{efn|{{lit|By the grace of God King}}}} with the word ''Canada'' at the bottom. The reverse of the medal has a [[naval crown]], three maple leaves and an eagle representing the navy, army and air force from top to bottom. The word ''service'' is on a scroll at the base and a fleur-de-lis is on each side of the crown. The [[royal cypher]] is superimposed on the centre of the King George&nbsp;VI medal, but is omitted from later variants of the medal.<ref name=SystemBook/> The King George&nbsp;VI medal has the name and rank of the recipient engraved on the reverse of the solid bar while the Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II and King Charles&nbsp;III medals have the name and rank engraved around the edge of the medal. Early Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II medals have the letters stamped rather than engraved.<ref name=SystemBook/>
A clasp, also known as a bar, is awarded for every 10 years of subsequent service.<ref name="CFSite" /> The clasp is tombac and is {{convert|1/4|in|mm}} high, has the Canadian coat of arms in the centre surmounted by a crown, and is gold in colour. This is indicated on the undress ribbon by a rosette.<ref name="CFSite" />

Recipients of the Canadian Forces' Decoration are entitled to use the [[List of post-nominal letters|post nominal letters]] "CD". This post-nominal is not affected by the awarding of clasps.<ref name="CFSite" />

==Notable recipients==
* [[Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother]], 5 clasps<ref>McCreery</ref>
* Air Commodore [[Leonard Birchall]], 5 clasps
* [[Queen Elizabeth II]], no clasps worn by choice
* [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], 5 clasps<ref>{{cite web |title=The Duke receives a 5th Clasp to his Canadian Forces Decoration for 62 years' service in The Royal Canadian Regiment |url=https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/712961619073110016 |website=Twitter |access-date=3 April 2024 }}</ref>
* [[King Charles III]], 3 clasps
* [[Queen Camilla]]<ref>{{cite tweet|last=Walker|first=Cameron|user=CameronDLWalker|number=1620775444562976768|date=1 February 2023|title=NEW: The Queen Consort has held an audience with three members of @queensownrifles at Buckingham Palace. HM then joined a reception and was presented with the Canadian Forces' Decoration for 12 years of service as Colonel-in-Chief to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada|accessdate=1 February 2023}}</ref>
* Major-General James George Ross, 95; enrolled 1879, First World War veteran, honorary colonel of the [[Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps]] from 1948 to 1955, invested with the insignia in 1956 as the oldest member of the Canadian Forces to receive the CD
* Ranger Abraham Metatawabin, 92, served as a Ranger from 1963 to 1971. He re-enrolled in 1995.  He was a former chief of Fort Albany.<ref>12 Jan 2015 story accessed 5 December 2023, https://wawataynews.ca/home/longest-serving-ranger-honoured</ref>
* Ranger Richard Newell, 5 clasps. The only person to be awarded a fifth clasp with a non-honorary position. He joined the CAF in 1957, retiring from regular force in 1986, when he joined the Canadian Rangers, with whom he was still serving {{as of|2025|lc=on}}. In June 2025 he was awarded his fifth clasp.<ref>16 June 2025 story accessed 16 June 2025, https://www.canada.ca/en/army/news-publications/2025/06/car-dedication.html</ref>

==Notes and references==
=== Explanatory notes ===
{{notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== General and cited references ===
* {{Cite book |last=McCreery| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher McCreery| title=The Canadian Forces' Decoration| publisher=Department of National Defence| year=2010 |location=Ottawa |isbn=978-1-100-54293-5 |oclc=779682934 |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/dn-nd/D61-27-2010-eng.pdf |access-date=16 May 2022}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|title=Canadian Forces' Decoration|work=Veterans Affairs Canada|url=https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/details/199|access-date=13 January 2020 }}
* {{cite web|title=Canadian Forces' Decoration; A History|work=Department of National Defence|url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/pub/cfd-dfc-eng.asp|access-date=20 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322051708/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/pub/cfd-dfc-eng.asp|archive-date=22 March 2012|url-status=dead}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310172438/http://www.airforce.dnd.ca/16wing/news/news_images/CD_Medal_or_Decoration.jpg View Decoration]

{{Canadian Honours System}}

[[Category:1949 establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1949]]
[[Category:Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth]]
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of Canada]]