Ati Vishisht Seva Medal

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, lit.'very distinguished service medal') is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Distinguished Service decoration.

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal


TypeMilitary award
Awarded forDistinguished Service
Country India
Presented byIndia President of India
EstablishedJanuary 26, 1960
Precedence
Next (higher) Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak[1]
Equivalent Uttam Yudh Seva Medal[1]
Next (lower) Vir Chakra[1]
← Vishisht Seva Medal, Class II

The award can also be granted posthumously. Subsequent awards are represented by a bar worn on the ribbon. The awardee can use "AVSM" as post-nominal letters.

History

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The Ati Vishisht Seva Medal was originally instituted as the "Vishisht Seva Medal, Class II" on 26 January 1960. Five other medals were instituted on the same day - the Sainya Seva Medal, Sena Medal, Nao Sena Medal and the Vayu Sena Medal.[2] It was renamed on January 27, 1961, and the badge signed. Since 1980 the awarding of the medal have been restricted to operational service as the Yudh Seva Medal was created to recognize distinguished services in an operational environment.[3]

Design

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The Ati Vishisht Seva Medal is made of silver gilt and has on its obverse a five-pointed star and on its reverse the Lion Capital. The ribbon is gold in colour and is 32mm wide with two dark-blue stripes dividing it into three equal parts.

Additional awards of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal are represented by a bar worn on the ribbon.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Precedence Of Medals". indianarmy.nic.in/. Indian Army. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  2. ^ "DESIGNS OF NEW SERVICE MEDAL AND THEIR DESIGNS" (PDF). archive.pib.gov.in. 29 July 1960. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  3. ^ Haynes, Ed. "Ati Vishisht Seva Medal". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007.