| Pro Patria Medal | |
| Presenter: | the State President |
| Country: |  South Africa |
| Type: | Military campaign medal |
| Eligibility: | All Ranks |
| Awarded For: | 55 days continuous or 90 days non-continuous duty in an operational area or engaged in combat with the enemy |
| Campaign: | 19661992 Border War |
| Status: | Discontinued in 2003 |
| Clasps: | Cunene Clasp for service in Angola in 19751976 |
| Established: | 1974 |
| Firstawarded: | 1978 |
| Precedence Label: | SADF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear |
| Higher: | |
| Lower: | |
The Pro Patria Medal is a South African military campaign medal which was instituted by the Republic in 1974. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for service in an operational area, as designated by the Minister of Defence or for engagement in armed combat with the enemy. [1]
The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).[2] [3]
The Pro Patria Medal was instituted by the State President in 1974.[2] [4]
The medal could be awarded to serving members of all ranks of the South African Defence Force. The conditions for award stipulated that the recipient had to have:
The wording on the certificate of award reads "The Pro Patria Medal was awarded for service in the defence of the Republic or for the prevention or suppression of terrorism".[6]
The position of the Pro Patria Medal in the official order of precedence was revised three times after 1975, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals.
The position of the Pro Patria Medal in the order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again when a new series of military decorations and medals was instituted in South Africa on 27 April 2003.[8]
The Pro Patria Medal is an octagonal medallion, struck in bronze and gilded, to fit in a circle in diameter and thick at the centre, with a golden aloe emblem in the centre on a blue roundel, in diameter.[1]
The pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms is on the reverse, with the medal number stamped underneath.
The ribbon is wide, with a wide orange band, a wide white band, a wide orange band and a wide dark blue band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a wide orange band in the centre.[9]
The early medals and ribbon suspenders were minted separately and attached to each other with rings which enabled the medal to swing. On the original medal, the roundel on the obverse was also minted separately. The earliest version of the medal was minted by the South African Mint, but from c. 1980, further production of the medal was put out to tender by private enterprises. As a result, several versions appeared, nearly all minted with the ribbon suspender as an integral part of the medal and some still with a separately minted roundel, some without the gilding, and some minted with both the ribbon suspender and the roundel as an integral part of the medal.
A recipient of the Pro Patria Medal who was mentioned in dispatches during the 1966-1989 Border War, was entitled to wear a miniature Coat of Arms on the medal ribbon and ribbon bar.[1]
Only the Cunene clasp was awarded, to members who served in Angola during Operation Savannah in 1975 and 1976. Recipients of the clasp wear a button, with the letter C encircled by a wreath, on the ribbon bar.[1] [5]
Although the 1974 warrant made provision for bars, none were authorised.
Conferment of the Pro Patria Medal was discontinued in respect of services performed on or after 27 April 2003.[3]