Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard are military medals and ribbons of the United States Coast Guard which are currently issued under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security.
Prior to 2002, such awards were issued by the Secretary of Transportation and Coast Guard personnel were eligible to receive a variety of Department of Transportation (DOT) civilian decorations. Since transferring to the Department of Homeland Security, the issuance of DOT awards has been discontinued in the Coast Guard, although such awards may still be seen on active duty Coast Guard uniforms.
Coast Guard military awards are similar to U.S. Navy awards (often with nearly identical ribbons save for an additional white stripe) and Coast Guard personnel are eligible to receive all inter-service awards and decorations, authorized foreign awards and international decorations.
The current active awards and decorations of the U.S. Coast Guard are as follows:[1]
The following is the ribbon order of precedence authorized for wear by the U.S. Coast Guard. The list contains awards and decorations for the departments of Defense (including Army, Navy and Air Force), Homeland Security and Transportation:
Key:
Bold = denotes agency-level (DHS or DOT) award or U.S. Coast Guard award
Bold italic = denotes U.S. Coast Guard award is obsolete
Italic = denotes award is obsolete
| Coast Guard Cross | Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal | |||||
| Transportation Distinguished Service Medal | Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal | Air Force Distinguished Service Medal | ||||
| DOT's Secretary Award for Outstanding Achievement | Guardian Medal | Distinguished Flying Cross | ||||
| Coast Guard Medal | Gold Lifesaving Medal | Bronze Star | ||||
| Silver Lifesaving Medal | Aerial Achievement Medal | |||||
| DOT's Secretary Award for Meritorious Achievement | Coast Guard Commendation Medal | Air Force Commendation Medal | ||||
| DOT's Secretary Award for Superior Achievement | Transportation 9-11 Medal | Coast Guard Achievement Medal | Army Achievement Medal | |||
| Air Force Achievement Medal | Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon | Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon |
| Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal | Air Force Good Conduct Medal | |||||
| Coast Guard Reserve Good Conduct Medal | Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal |