Curator & Collector

Artist’s rendering of the new Canadian Sacrifice Medal taken from the
website of the Governor-General

The current edition of Canadian Coin News has a front page article on the new Sacrifice Medal that has just been approved by the Governor-General, on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for the Canadian Armed Forces. The stark beauty of the medal, and particularly the reverse design, is both striking and appropriate for a medal of this nature.

The medal, minted by the Royal Canadian Mint, is made of sterling silver, is lacquered to prevent tarnishing, and is 36mm in diameter. The obverse bears an image of Queen Elizabeth that does not appear on Canadian coins, while the reverse depicts the statue “Canada,” sculpted as grieving for the fallen, from the Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial. The original statue was sculpted by Walter Seymour Allward, while the medal was designed by “Captain Carl Gauthier of the Directorate of Honours & Recognition and Cathy Bursey-Sabourin, Fraser Herald at the Canadian Heraldic Authority at the Chancellery of Honours, Rideau Hall.”

According to the Department of Defense,

“The Medal may be awarded to members of the Canadian Forces, members of an allied force working as an integral part of the Canadian Forces such as exchange personnel, civilian employees of the Government of Canada or Canadian citizens under contract with the Government of Canada, on the condition that they were deployed as part of a military mission under the authority of the Canadian Forces, that have, on or after October 7, 2001, died or been wounded under honourable circumstances as a direct result of a hostile or perceived hostile action on the condition that the wounds that were sustained required treatment by a physician and the treatment has been documented.”