# What is a 'bravery gong'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956 "2023-06-03T14:36:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/21 "2023-06-04T14:54:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In the case of royals that’s pretty much true. Prince Phillip earned most of his, in WW2. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/22 "2023-06-04T15:27:32Z")
And Andrew in the Falklands. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/23 "2023-06-04T18:40:27Z")
Some royals sometimes have certainly served in war or even in peacetime and been awarded for doing things that would’ve gotten a commoner of similar military rank the same award in the same circumstances. I don’t mean to minimize any of those awards or the actions that led to them. But as Charles said, some of those are more indicia of status than indicia of merit. Sort of an award for participation in the rarified game of being royal. By its own lights, that’s fine too. They’re just different lights. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/24 "2023-06-04T18:47:23Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > The British don’t do ‘ribbon on its own’, so the huge array of fruit salad that Bradley Manning, etc. turned up in court with, doesn’t happen there. Just FYI, it’s Chelsea Manning. Even when referring to her before she changed her name. ETA: And it looks like she had five ribbons. No criticism, genuinely curious – is that a particularly large amount, or a large amount for her rank or experience? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/25 "2023-06-04T19:20:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Some royals sometimes have certainly served in war or even in peacetime and been awarded for doing things that would’ve gotten a commoner of similar military rank the same award in the same circumstances. I don’t mean to minimize any of those awards or the actions that led to them. I might also note that many of them are afforded opportunities to serve with distinction by virtue of their status at birth, which for me undermines things a bit. They might have displayed some merit from the positions they were placed in, but they did not arrive in such positions purely by merit. Their success, then, no matter how great, can never be seen as a product of meritocracy. This is not to say that I am _for_ rigid meritocracy, only that anyone who would point to a Royal as an example of meritocracy in action must be under some degree of delusion. Also, another term (seeing that someone already mentioned fruit salad): chest candy. ETA: > [@eschrodinger](#): > > And it looks like she had five ribbons. No criticism, genuinely curious – is that a particularly large amount, or a large amount for her rank or experience? Fair question. The answer is a pretty definitive no. None of them were for meritorious or heroic service (and even by that pay grade, particularly in the Army, some low level awards for merit would not be uncommon, but she had none). I also seem to recall some of her ribbons were out of order in some early photos, but that could be as much due to the guards doing a shitty job of throwing her uniform together as anything (I honestly don’t know who assembles the dress uniform for someone in pre-trial confinement). ETA2: This one, for example: [![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e8ac95289dbff196a0142eb8019f612b498e2e5b/0_0_3000_1799/master/3000.jpg?width=700&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6f056a771a3bcde3f3f29d86e25d8dc7) ](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e8ac95289dbff196a0142eb8019f612b498e2e5b/0_0_3000_1799/master/3000.jpg?width=700&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6f056a771a3bcde3f3f29d86e25d8dc7) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/26 "2023-06-04T19:25:11Z")
ETA: Ninja’d by @ASL_v2.0’s ETA above. That pic was earlier during his first period in Iraq; he doesn’t yet have the start denoting the second tour. In the picture of them as a male in the army in the wiki article the ribbons are, from greatest to least: 1. National Defense Service Medal 2. Iraq Campaign medal with one star 3. Global War on Terrorism Service Medal 4. Army Service Ribbon 5. Army Overseas Service Ribbon Which you can translate as: 1. Served in the military during the gulf war (1990-1995) and/or the war on Terrorism (2001-2022) 2. Served in Iraq during the war there for 30 consecutive days. Twice. 3. Served overseas in support of one of the many Operation Whatevers that have pursued Islamic Terrorists of one sort or another. 4. Successfully graduated from newbie school in the Army 5. Served outside the USA for a 2-year+ tour. Which collectively amounts to: Served in the US Army during the 2000s and did deploy into Iraq for awhile. May have simply been washing dishes while there, but was there. So overall, totally typical for a non-combat soldier of their era. Nothing meritorious, just evidence they mostly showed up for work. Unfortunately for us. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/27 "2023-06-04T19:28:08Z")
I’d never heard the word gong used in this way before. TIL. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/28 "2023-06-04T19:29:14Z")
Purely Brit / Commonwealth slang. Not US slang. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/29 "2023-06-04T19:30:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > ETA: Ninja’d by @ASL_v2.0’s ETA above. That pic was earlier during his first period in Iraq; he doesn’t yet have the start denoting the second tour. Actually, very common mistake that I see all the time: the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal too, should never be awarded without a service star. Anytime you see someone wearing a slick Iraq or Afghanistan Campaign Medal without a star, technically they are wrong. By contrast, the GWOT Expeditionary Medal, which has _campaign_ stars instead of _service_ stars, may be awarded absent a star. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/30 "2023-06-04T19:31:32Z")
Cool. All that was after my time. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/31 "2023-06-04T19:33:46Z")
Don’t feel too bad. It’s all _before_ the time of anyone joining the military today. They haven’t awarded the Iraq Campaign Medal for over a decade, and so now I get to feel old too! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/32 "2023-06-04T21:24:54Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I’d never heard the word gong used in this way before. Me neither. Now I’m thinking of a cowardice cowbell. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/33 "2023-06-05T01:19:55Z")
Don’t be ridiculous. Cowbells are for heroes. The _courageous cowbell_ they call it. It’s white feathers for the cowards. Is there alliteration in it? No. But cowards don’t rate such flourishes. That’s kinda the point. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/34 "2023-06-05T02:55:23Z")
Considering what is topical in Australia I’m guessing the answer is “what you get for shooting unarmed civilians and pushing them over cliffs”. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/35 "2023-06-05T04:51:33Z")
That could be a thread on its own, but it reminds me of the quotation from Brecht’s Galileo: “Unhappy the land that has no heroes!” “No - unhappy the land that needs heroes” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956/36 "2023-06-05T18:37:09Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > That could be a thread on its own, but it reminds me of the quotation from Brecht’s Galileo: There is this thread already is that’s what you were referring to: > [@VC recipient found to have committed war-crimes: Ben Roberts-Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vc-recipient-found-to-have-committed-war-crimes-ben-roberts-smith/985010): > > An Australian SAS soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, brought a defamation claim against a couple of news outlets and three journalists who had published that the Victoria Cross recipient had committed serious crimes, including murdering civilians in Afghanistan. On Thursday, the (civil) court found that the allegations raised by the media and individual journalists were essentially true, so no defamation had occurred. Judgment On 1 June 2023, Justice Anthony Besanko dismissed the defamation case bro… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bravery-gong/984956.md?page=1)