| Polar Medal | |
|---|---|
Reverse of medal and ribbon |
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| Awarded by UK and Commonwealth | |
| Type | Medal |
| Awarded for | extreme human endeavour against the appalling weather and conditions that exist in the Arctic and Antarctic |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 1857 |
The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904.
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The first polar award was called the Arctic Medal which was presented twice in the 19th century. Firstly to the men who engaged in a search expedition to discover the fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew who were lost while looking for the Northwest Passage in 1847. The second presentation of the Arctic Medal was to the crews of three ships exploring the Arctic in 1875–76.
In 1904, the Polar Medal was inaugurated for members of Captain Scott's first expedition to Antarctica. Subsequent medals were also awarded to members of Ernest Shackleton's expeditions in 1907–09 and 1914–17.
Until 1968, the Polar Medal was presented to anyone who participated in a polar expedition endorsed by the governments of any Commonwealth Realms. However since then the rules governing its presentation have been revised with greater emphasis placed on personal achievement. Polar Medals are now only awarded to British subjects for their extreme human endeavours in Arctic and Antarctic conditions or to expedition member and those permanently-manned Antarctic bases for their contribution to the "acquisition of knowledge of Polar regions". Ten years of service at the North or South Pole is also now considered for the Polar Medal.
A total of 880 silver and 245 bronze medals have been issued for Antarctic expeditions. Another 73 silver medals for service in the Arctic.
Several people have been awarded bars to the medal for earning the award again for polar expeditions. Both Frank Wild and Ernest Joyce hold the joint record of four bars on their Polar Medal.[1]
The medal is octagonal in shape with a white ribbon.[2] The reverse of the original Arctic Medal showed a three-masted ship surrounded by ice floes.[2] The die for the medal was engraved by Leonard Charles Wyon. A new design by Ernest Gillick was used from 1904, showing HMS Discovery, with a sledging party in the foreground.[3] The obverse bears a portrait of the reigning monarch.
The medal was originally cast in both silver and bronze. Since 1939, all awarded medals have been silver.[2] Bronze medals were presented to personnel on relief ships for Antarctic expeditions, they were never awarded to participant of Arctic expeditions.
The Government of Australia replaced the Polar Medal with its own Australian Antarctic Medal in 1987.
In 1996, when New Zealand revised its royal honours system, New Zealanders ceased to receive the Polar Medal. It was proposed that the medal would be preserved, with a new name, under New Zealand regulations: the New Zealand Antarctic Medal. The rationale for the renaming was that it is in relation to Antarctica that New Zealand’s endeavours and achievements have been made. The new medal was formally instituted by the Queen of New Zealand on 1 September 2006.