# Royalty, Uniforms, and Medals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754 "2014-12-20T17:20:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![schnebs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@schnebs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnebs)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/1 "2014-12-20T17:20:10Z")
I was at a Thai restaurant recently, and the owners had a photo of the current monarch (whose name I’m not going to even try to spell) in a military uniform with medals and medallions aplenty. That got me thinking: Dressing up in a military uniform and getting boatloads of medals seems to be a pretty common thing if you’re a royal, but did do most members of a royal family actually earn them? Yes, I know William, Harry, and their dad actually were British officers, but I can’t help but wonder if they’re the exception rather than the rule, and if even they don’t sport medals and badges whose primary qualification is that the recipient be a prince and have a pulse. So what’s the Straight Dope, folks? Do most monarchs actually earn the military uniforms and awards they wear, or are they just one of the many perks of being in a royal? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/2 "2014-12-20T17:27:46Z")
Protip; If you don’t want to remember how to spell Bhumibol Adulyadej, you can always just call him by his regnal name, “Rama IX”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/3 "2014-12-20T17:35:08Z")
[Here’s a list of some of the medals and awards earned by the King of Thailand](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_titles_and_honours_of_Bhumibol_Adulyadej_of_Thailand). As you can see, few if any are for military service. ---
**Author:** ![Wings\_Over\_Your\_Wits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/278dde/32.png) [@Wings\_Over\_Your\_Wits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wings_Over_Your_Wits)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/4 "2014-12-20T17:38:48Z")
Well, there are things that have to be earned and things that get handed out with membership in the exclusive club. Prince Charles has more gongs than his brother Andrew, for instance, but Andrew has a medal for Falklands War service that Charles can never get. People that know the code can tell the difference but to most people it’s all a fruit salad. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/5 "2014-12-20T18:37:11Z")
Yes, in the case of royalty you do have the matter that quite a bit of the decorations are Honors and Orders that accrue to the person by their royal rank, some of which are not necessarily military. A reigning monarch will often be at least symbolically head of the armed forces and thus entitled to wear of the uniform and then will wear both military decorations and non-military honors that are authorized per the regulation on the uniform; at the same time many of the modern monarchs do get to pull a tour in actual active duty if only for the sake of the troops’ morale and so they can at least have \*some \*“earned” pin-ons. Most respectable monarchs will \*\*not \*\*wear a decoration that’s meant for the regulars to actually sweat and bleed for, as a matter of honor. Like \*\*Wings Over Your Wits \*\*mentioned, the people in the know will be able to tell by looking what part of the “fruit salad” is earned the hard way, what is stuff given “for showing up” and what are the purely honorific ones. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/6 "2014-12-20T19:51:59Z")
Many of the British royals have served in the military, it’s kind of expected. Some who served in combat in the 20th/21st century: George VI in WWI (he was the spare at the time. Two of his younger brothers served in WWII - George was killed in active service, and Henry was wounded), Prince Philip in WWII, Prince Andrew in the Falklands (spare, and a career RN man), and Prince Harry in Afghanistan, once as a forward air controller, and once as an Apache pilot (spare again). Prince Charles commanded a minesweeper, at a time when old mines popping up were a fairly common thing, and William served as a SAR pilot, and those aren’t sinecure positions either. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/7 "2014-12-20T20:17:42Z")
In the case of the British royals, most of their military medals are coronation and jubilee medals, which are issued to all members of the armed forces. The difference is that they tend to hold nominal military positions over many decades and so usually accumulate more of them than most other soldiers. There weren’t many four-years olds who, like Prince Charles, got his mother’s coronation medal. Anyone in the know isn’t impressed by this, but then again they won’t be impressed by those same medals when worn by anyone else. The other decorations they wear with military uniforms are for civilian orders of chivalry, such as the Garter. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/8 "2014-12-20T21:18:56Z")
And medals “just for showing up” aren’t uncommon for peasants, either, or in the US. IIRC, an American GI who went to Vietnam and didn’t get himself into trouble ended up with a minimum of something like five medals. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/9 "2014-12-21T00:03:06Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Many of the British royals have served in the military, it’s kind of expected. Some who served in combat in the 20th/21st century: George VI in WWI (he was the spare at the time. Two of his younger brothers served in WWII - George was killed in active service, and Henry was wounded), Prince Philip in WWII, Prince Andrew in the Falklands (spare, and a career RN man), and Prince Harry in Afghanistan, once as a forward air controller, and once as an Apache pilot (spare again). > > Prince Charles commanded a minesweeper, at a time when old mines popping up were a fairly common thing, and William served as a SAR pilot, and those aren’t sinecure positions either. You left out Her Majesty. The then Princess Elizabeth served as a mechanic & truck driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ie the British Army for women) during WWII. She remains the only female member of the Royal Family to actually serve in uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/10 "2014-12-21T00:40:38Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Prince Andrew in the Falklands (spare, and a career RN man) Heh. I first read “RN” as “Registered Nurse” before I realized, “Oh, Royal Navy”. (Sorry, my sister is a Registered Nurse.) > [@Chronos](#): > > And medals “just for showing up” aren’t uncommon for peasants, either, or in the US. IIRC, an American GI who went to Vietnam and didn’t get himself into trouble ended up with a minimum of something like five medals. I worked, some years ago, with a Vietnam veteran who laughed about his Vietnam service medal. “I spent my entire tour on a ship, 20 miles off the coast of 'Nam, doing nothing.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/11 "2014-12-21T04:51:24Z")
I have it on good authority that many Surgeons General of the United States have never seen combat. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/12 "2014-12-21T05:33:37Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Many of the British royals have served in the military, it’s kind of expected. Some who served in combat in the 20th/21st century: George VI in WWI (he was the spare at the time. Two of his younger brothers served in WWII - George was killed in active service, and Henry was wounded), Prince Philip in WWII, Prince Andrew in the Falklands (spare, and a career RN man), and Prince Harry in Afghanistan, once as a forward air controller, and once as an Apache pilot (spare again). > > Prince Charles commanded a minesweeper, at a time when old mines popping up were a fairly common thing, and William served as a SAR pilot, and those aren’t sinecure positions either. Actually it was only in Victorian times that royal uniforms became costumes. William IV for instance has actually served in the Royal Navy. The then Duke of York was commander in chief. Before George III almost all male monarchs saw combat. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/13 "2014-12-21T07:22:37Z")
Also, it should be noted that some of the medals will be from other countries - sort of a “nice that you visited” token, usually couched as some sort of chivalric order or other. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/14 "2014-12-21T13:23:03Z")
It should also be noted that in Commonwealth militaries, it is a violation of uniform regulations not to wear medals you are entitled to wear with a particular uniform. I suppose Americans are different. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/15 "2014-12-21T17:33:01Z")
I guess that help keep the overly modest from going out under-decorated. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/16 "2014-12-21T22:23:24Z")
After William IV service in the Royal Navy officers were allowed to drink the loyal toast sitting down to avoid cracking their heads against the deck above ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/17 "2014-12-21T22:41:24Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I guess that help keep the overly modest from going out under-decorated. It may also be to prevent units from having unsanctioned traditions of not wearing certain pins or other elements of their uniforms. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/18 "2014-12-21T22:57:26Z")
Also, in the old days the invitation to a club that included the monarch was part of the appeal of the orders. So it’s not really against the traditional spirit. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/19 "2014-12-22T16:31:31Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > It should also be noted that in Commonwealth militaries, it is a violation of uniform regulations not to wear medals you are entitled to wear with a particular uniform. I suppose Americans are different. I can’t speak for other services, but when wearing military ribbons in the U.S. Navy, service members have the option of wearing either all of their ribbons, or only the three highest in precedence. In my experience, those who take this latter option tend to be rather humble individuals. [Cite](http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/uniforms/uniformregulations/chapter5/Pages/5301.aspx). > [@](#): > > Arrange ribbons in order of precedence in rows from top down, inboard to outboard. Wear either the three senior ribbons, or all ribbons if you have earned three or more. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754/20 "2014-12-22T22:29:51Z")
On ribbon and decoration display, years and years ago a young first lieutenant checked in at a post in the mid-west on a night I was the staff duty officer. Nice young kid in greens with two rows on ribbons. The bottom row was the “I was alive in '65” ribbon and the usual cluster of Vietnam decorations. the top row had only two decorations: a bronze star and a light blue job with a bunch of stars on it. I have no idea what happened to him but the few minutes I spoke with him he seemed like a decent young officer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royalty-uniforms-and-medals/707754.md?page=2)