Unauthorized AEF Ribbons & Decorations

[world war I nerd]

I thought it might be useful to establish some sort of a data base showing all of the various unauthorized decorations and awards that the Doughboys awarded to themselves or purchased from French or stateside vendors to jazz up their post Armistice uniforms.

 

Not being a medal guy, to start with, can anybody ID these unofficial AEF ribbon bars?

 

Also, if possible, it would be great if forum members could post:

 

• Better images of the actual ribbons
• Images of the actual medals if they exist
• Other period photos showing Doughboys wearing unauthorized ribbons, decorations, chevrons, badges, pins, etc.

Thanks, World War I Nerd

 

This pair of Doughboys are from the 78th and 28th Infantry Divisions respectively. Both are wearing unauthorized ribbon racks that may be the same. What do the ribbons represent and were there actual medals to go with the ribbons?

 

Right hand photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

Close up of the ribbon racks and a color example of what they may be ... please ID.

[Garandomatic]

Top picture, right ribbon looks like a VFW ribbon... I've seen them a few times.

[jguy1986]

This is the most common "unofficial" ribbon combo that one comes across. In the color photo, the ribbon on the right is a VFW membership ribbon, and the other ribbon is a commemorative inter-allied ribbon, representing the colors of the allied nations' flags, or at least that's what I recall reading about it.

[world war I nerd]

Thanks guys for the IDs ... But some questions still linger.

 

Thus far we have identified the VFW Medal, but does anybody know the VFW medal's:

 

• Official name?
• The date it was instituted?
• Why & to whom it was issued or how it was obtained?

The right hand ribbon has been identified as the Unofficial Inter-Allied Victory Medal Ribbon that was privately conceived sometime in 1919 and doled out to anybody who participated in the Great War.

 

The left hand ribbon, which differs from the Inter-Allied Victory Medal Ribbon, still needs to be identified ... Anybody?

[world war I nerd]

In addition, the right hand ribbon on the 1st lieutenant's two place ribbon rack differs from both the Inter-Allied Victory ribbon and the as yet unidentified ribbon shown in the above post.

 

Can anybody ID this ribbon?

 

I have placed mirror images of the unknown ribbon (right) and the Inter-Allied Victory ribbon (left) above and below for comparison ... Again anybody?

 

PS, is there a reason why the center stripe on the VFW medal appears in both yellow and white?

[jguy1986]

I always thought they were two variations of the same design. Someone made one, started selling it, and then a competitor made a similar design to get a cut of the action -- that sort of thing. I've only seen the two designs, though, which in the Post #6 photo I refer to as "thin bars" (left) and "thick bars" (right).

[world war I nerd]

Jguy,

 

I was thinking the same thing, only along the lines of European versus American made.

 

But in actuality it could have been two U.S. or two European competitors as you suggested.

 

One of the things I'd really like to find out is if the Doughboys had access to these ribbons in Europe or if they picked them up after returning to the U.S. - or both.

[atb]

I think the "unofficial VFW medal" is that organization's basic membership badge rather than an unofficial medal.

[gomorgan]

It is a VFW basic membership medal & ribbon, the Legion was founded in 1919 and their ribbon will be found on uniforms also, I'm sure added by the vet at a later date. These guys wore their uniforms on Veterans Day & Memorial Day. As a child I can remember the Vet's lining up to march to the National Cemetery on these dates and many wore their WWI uniforms and medals. I grew up surrounded by these men, both WWI & WWII veterans.

[brad k]

Thanks guys for the IDs ... But some questions still linger.

 

Thus far we have identified the VFW Medal, but does anybody know the VFW medal's:

 

• Official name?
• The date it was instituted?
• Why & to whom it was issued or how it was obtained?

The right hand ribbon has been identified as the Unofficial Inter-Allied Victory Medal Ribbon that was privately conceived sometime in 1919 and doled out to anybody who participated in the Great War.

 

The left hand ribbon, which differs from the Inter-Allied Victory Medal Ribbon, still needs to be identified ... Anybody?

I've seen the one on the left as a full size medal for odd fellows vet's of ww1.

[MWalsh]

I suspect that some ribbons we see sometimes, which appear "unauthorized", might actually be State National Guard ribbons, which would make sense given that many of the WW1 units were formed up from Guard men.

 

Just a thought I guess.

[flyboy53]

Given that the 28th was a Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit called up for WW I, could one or both be National Guard ribbons or a division association ribbon of some kind?

[world war I nerd]

MWalsh & flyboy 53, yes there were indeed a plethora of unauthorized city, county and state victory or service type medals handed out when the Doughboys returned from overseas service. Not to mention the possibility of a wide variety of National Guard type, and various division specific and reunion medals and ribbons that were also available during the 1920s and 1930s.

 

Trying to sort through and categorize all of those ribbons would be a daunting task indeed!

 

The unidentified ribbons posted in this thread however, both bear the flag colors of the Allied European nations, so they are likely unofficial Inter-Allied Victory Medal that preceded the arrival of the official rainbow colored Allied Victory Ribbon.

 

I was just hoping that somebody could come up with either a photo of the actual medal suspended from either style of ribbon or perhaps provide information as to where they were made, etc.

 

I've been going through all of the Doughboy images taken in post war Europe that show ribbon bars in attempt to identify the various types of unofficial ribbons that the troops had awarded themselves before returning to America in 1919.

 

I always though that there would be a larger assortment of European made campaign & victory style medal ribbons being worn. So far, however, the majority of men seem to have been wearing the above mentioned VFW ribbon and the unofficial Inter-Allied Victory ribbons. Nevertheless, I have come across a ribbon or two that I can't identify, which I will be posting soon.

 

Thanks to all for your comments ... Brian

 

If you have a post war photo of an odd ribbon or medal, please post it.

[world war I nerd]

Just to recap ... here are examples of one VFW Medal (left) and two Inter-Allied Victory Medals each with a different ribbon along next to a third ribbon variation.

 

I believe that at least one of the Inter-Allied medal variations, as well as the VFW medals may have been available to the American Doughboys overseas before they sailed for home in 1919. Presumably, at the same time, both of these medals were also available for the returning Doughboys in the U.S.A.

 

If anybody has any thoughts on which variations might have been European made or U.S. made, please sound off.

[world war I nerd]

Here are three examples of the red, white and blue ribbon, which was commonly used on American made state, county and unit medals. Red, white and blue ribbons also show up on unofficial Mexican border service medals. Those three colors were also used on the ribbons on various unofficial French made medals as they were also the colors of the French flag.

 

From left to right: Unknown, 12, Division commemorative medal, Rutland County, Vermont, and two unknown red, blue and white ribbons.

[world war I nerd]

These two studio portraits show a 32nd Division Doughboy and a member of the Tank Corps wearing similar ribbon bars composed of the VFW and Inter-Allied Victory ribbons. Although I have no proof, I'm relatively certain that unofficial ribbon bars such as these were readily available in the French port cities in 1919.

 

Doughboy photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

The only ribbon worn by the 80th Division Doughboy on the left is that of the (European made?) Inter-Allied Victory Medal, while the 7th Division Doughboy's three place ribbon rack is made up of the unofficial Inter-Allied Victory Medal, an unknown ribbon and the official Inter-Allied Victory Medal.

 

Can anybody identify the unknown ribbon?

 

Doughboy photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

The 1st Army engineer on the left is wearing an unknown ribbon bar similar to the one depicted in the above photo next to a yet another unofficial Inter-Allied Victory Medal ribbon. The Yankee from the 26th Division is wearing an unidentified red, white and blue ribbon and a Mexican Campaign ribbon.

 

Doughboy photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[Garandomatic]

Middle one in post 18 looks like the early wavy army of occupation it whatever the nomenclature was for WWI.

[world war I nerd]

On the left Corporal A. Martinez, Company I, 356th Infantry Regiment, 89th Division wears the ribbon for the Distinguished Service Cross he earned while serving with the AEF. This photo taken in Prum, Germany was dated January 6, 1919. The Air Service soldier posted to the District of Paris is wearing the ribbon for the official Inter-Allied Victory Medal with one bronze battle star.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of the National World War I Museum

Right hand photo courtesy of the Chuck Thomas collection

My guess is that all of the above ribbon bars were either issued or otherwise obtained while the soldiers was serving overseas. Any thought in agreement or to the contrary are welcome ...

[world war I nerd]

Garandomatic, that's also what I thought

 

However, I believe that all of these portraits were either shot in France in 1919 or shortly after the soldier returned home in 1919 or possibly no later than the early 1920s.

 

The Army Occupation of Germany Medal was not created until 1941 ... some 20 years after the Doughboys had returned home, in which case these soldiers would be pushing 40 years of age or older.

 

Based on that, the ribbon in the photos must represent something else ...no?

[world war I nerd]

After taking a closer look at the unknown ribbons in post no.18 (7th Division), and post no.19 (1st Army), I'm pretty sure that they are both VFW Medal ribbons.

 

For some reason, whether it was the lighting, exposure, film, developing methods or the chemicals used, often the dark colors appear lighter and light the colors appear darker in the finished product.

[jerseygary]

Was the American Field Service ribbon officially permitted to be worn on a ribbon rack? I've seen many photos of it being worn but was it technically allowed? What about a Red Cross service ribbon? Some guys served with the Red Cross before we got in it and transferred to the U.S. military later on.

[Garandomatic]

I didn't know it came out in'41! Interesting!