Vishisht Seva Medal | |
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Type | Military award |
Awarded for | Distinguished service, to all ranks of the armed forces |
Country | India |
Presented by | President of India |
Established | 26 January 1960 |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) |
Sena Medal (
Army) Nau Sena Medal ( Navy) Vayu Sena Medal ( Air Force) |
Equivalent | Yudh Seva Medal |
Next (lower) | Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak [1] |
The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) is a decoration of the Indian Armed Forces. It is awarded to recognize "distinguished service of a high order" to all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces.
From 1980, the Yudh Seva Medal was introduced to recognize exceptional services in an operational environment. [2] Since then the VSM has been restricted to non-operational service.
The Vishisht Seva Medal was originally instituted as the "Vishisht Seva Medal, Class III" on 26 January 1960. Five other medals were instituted on the same day - the Sainya Seva Medal, Sena Medal, Nao Sena Medal and the Vayu Sena Medal. [3] It was renamed on 27 January 1961, and the badge signed.
The award may be granted posthumously and subsequent awards are represented by a bar worn on the ribbon. The award carries with it the right to use "VSM" as post-nominal letters. The medal was originally established as the "Vishisht Seva Medal, Class III". [2] It was renamed to its present name on 27 January 1967. The design of the medal remained unchanged and the change be reflected only in the records.
The medal is a 35-mm circular medal, with a five-pointed star in the centre. It is suspended from a straight-bar suspender with the name on the edge. The state emblem with the name of the decoration in Hindi above - "Vishisht Seva Medal" in Hindi. The ribbon is 32 mm long in yellow, with three 2 mm dark blue stripes dividing it into four equal parts