Navy Ribbons Vs. Army

[pattyd82ab]

Can anyone tell me with certainty if Navy all navy ribbons are wider than army ribbons? I found a Navy Presidential unit ribbon in my collection that is about a half inch wide. Are all navy ribbons like that, or are only unit ribbons wider, or do I have something odd ball?

 

Thanks

[MGThompson]

I don't know if this helps, but for my grandfathers european campaign ribbon bars, he had 3 of them! One was longer and not as tall and looks like thick threads. One is shorter and taller and stiching looks fine, and the other is pretty long and more rectangle shaped than the other. They are all original also. One is with his medal, one was on uniform and the other was on a metal long pin rack with a few others. I haven't seen one like the first one I talked about. I just think a few different styles were made at different times and maybe by different suppliers. Im not an expert tho, just adding my $0.02

[uplandmod]

Yes, WWII Navy and Marine ribbons are wider not sure when it started but the practice seemed to end during or right before the Korean War, never been able to get the exact date.

 

Navy/Marine ribbons measure 1/2 inch, the Army ribbons measure 3/8 wide. Around the Korean War era allthe branches standardized for 3/8.

 

Btw a 1/2 PUC ribbon is quite a difficult ribbon to find in 1/2, very nice!

 

Leonardo

[quack]

The standardisation of the size of ribbons among all services to the current size seems to have been done immediately post Korean War, though I have no reference available to cite. Doc

[pattyd82ab]

Awesome! I actually have two of them. A bit faded, but still nice. Thanks for the help.

[pattyd82ab]

do you know how a ribbon rack from split service would look? For example. My great unlce served in wwii as an MoM3. He was discharged, but later re enlisted and went to OTS. His re enlistment and eventuall commission happened during Korea. Would he just have worn all 3/8? there's no known picture of him close enough to see his ribbon rack clearly.

[tom2001]

In order to standardize production and design of medals, ribbons, and other heraldic items, Public Law 85-263 was enacted in 1957. It gave the authority to the Secretary of The Army to design, standardize and approve these items.

 

Older stock in the supply chain were not destroyed, as we see numerous example of pre-1957 medal stock being issued into the 1970s.

[tom2001]

And here's the legalese:

 

Public Law 85-263 AN ACT To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of the Army to furnish heraldic services. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That chapter 437 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) by adding the following new section at the end thereof: "•§ 4594. Furaishing of heraldic services " (a) Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Army, an authority designated by him may, upon the request of, and subject to approval by, the Secretary of another military department, design flags, insignia, badges, medals, seals, decorations, guidons, streamers, finial pieces for flagstaffs, buttons, buckles, awards, trophies, marks, emblems, rosettes, scrolls, braids, ribbons, knots, tabs, cords, and similar items for the requesting department. " ( Upon request the Secretary of the Army may advise other departments and agencies of the United States on matters of heraldry. " © The Secretary of the Army may prescribe regulations providing for reimbursement for services furnished under this section."; and (2) by adding the following new item at the end of the analysis: "4594. Furnishing of heraldic services." SEC. 2. This Act takes effect on the first day of the first month after the month in which it is enacted. Approved September 2, 1957. 84352 O - 5 8 - 40

[uplandmod]

Nice Tom! That is the kind of info I was looking for, looks like 1957 was a big change for the Corp.

 

In regards to Pattyd's uniform, I would have gone with what was his then most current ribbons which was the Army. He would have purchased smaller army sized versions of the navy ribbons to fit his army uniform. I don't know at this time what inter-service ribbon specs were but I do have a WWII Marine who later went into Army Airborne in the late 40's. I have a specific record from the Marines to the army stating what ribbons he was entitled to wear on his then current uniform.

 

LF

[Tom Nier]

The width of pre-WW2 US Navy ribbon bars shows more variation than has been discussed here. Attached are scans of three Navy ribbon bar sets from my collection. The top bar with the Mexican campaign, WW1 Victory & Good Conduct measues 3/8 inch width. The middle set of 2 x 3 ribbons measures 7/16 inch width. And the bottom bar with the Navy Cross, Mexican campaign & WW1 Victory is a full 1/2 inch wide. One charactistic of these pre-WW2 Navy ribbon bar sets is that the Good Conduct ribbon was placed last, and does not have re-enlistment bronze stars. These stars were not approved for the NGC ribbon until after WW2.

[dg0223]

It actually isn't the width we're talking about here. The width of the ribbons isn't different, the height is. Although there are examples of the width varying as well, the navy ribbons are the ones that are usually "taller" than the army ribbons. Keep in mind, lots of these examples were put together by different tailors in uniform shops all over, so there is obviously going to be some variation until the standard ribbon size would surface some time during the Korean War.

 

When ribbons started to appear with the crimped slide-on backing is when the sizes started to be standardized. Prior to that, ribbons varied in height, as shown by the pictoral evidence above.

[uplandmod]

Thanks for the pictures, I really don't know much about pre-WWII Navy Ribbons..nice to see some examples.

 

 

If possible can I see the backs of those ribbons?

 

Thank you!

LF