Appearance
The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a gilt bronze medallion 1.25 inches (32 mm) in diameter. The obverse of the medal depicts an American bald eagle in the center displaying its wings. The eagle holds an olive branch in its right talon and and arrows in its left talons. The eagle is surrounded by a blue enameled ring with the words, • UNITED • STATES • OF • AMERICA • at the top and • NAVY • at the bottom. Surrounding the blue enamel ring is a gold border of scroll waves depicted moving in a clockwise direction. The medal is surmounted by a white five-pointed star, point up, the points of the star being tipped with gold balls. In the center of the star is an blue anchor, while gold rays radiate between the arms of the star.
The reverse of the medal depicts a trident surrounded by a laurel wreath. The wreath is surrounded by a blue enamel ring containing the inscription FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE. Like the obverse, the blue enamel ring on the reverse is surrounded by scroll waves .
The medal's suspension and service ribbon is navy blue with a single central stripe of yellow. Additional awards of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal are denoted by gold and silver 5/16 inch stars worn on the medal's suspension and service ribbon.
Read more about this topic: Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Famous quotes containing the word appearance:
“Hence, the less government we have, the better,—the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual; the appearance of the principal to supersede the proxy; the appearance of the wise man, of whom the existing government, is, it must be owned, but a shabby imitation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“You speak of poverty and dependence. Who are poor and dependent? Who are rich and independent? When was it that men agreed to respect the appearance and not the reality?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The true, prescriptive artist strives after artistic truth; the lawless artist, following blind instinct, after an appearance of naturalness. The one leads to the highest peaks of art, the other to its lowest depths.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)