Updated September 2026 · 8 min read
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration of the United States, awarded for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” Since the first presentation in 1863, it has been awarded 3,555 times — to soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and one Coast Guardsman whose courage went far beyond what duty required.
Born in the Civil War
At the start of the Civil War, the United States had no medal for individual valor. Many officers regarded decorations as a European affectation. The pressure of war changed that: in December 1861 President Lincoln signed legislation creating a “medal of honor” for enlisted sailors and Marines, and in July 1862 Congress authorized a similar medal for Army privates and non-commissioned officers. Army officers became eligible in 1863.
The first medals were presented on March 25, 1863, to six members of Andrews’ Raiders, Union volunteers who had slipped behind Confederate lines and hijacked a locomotive in Georgia. Private Jacob Parrott, just 19, received the very first. That date is now observed each year as National Medal of Honor Day.
More than 1,525 Medals of Honor were eventually awarded for the Civil War — about 43% of all medals ever presented. Explore them on our Civil War page.
What it takes: the modern criteria
Today the medal may be awarded to a member of the armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty while:
- engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
- engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
- serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
The deed must be so outstanding that it clearly distinguishes the individual’s gallantry beyond the call of duty from lesser forms of bravery, and it must involve the risk of life. Incontestable proof is required, normally the sworn statements of at least two eyewitnesses.
The “pyramid of honor”
In 1917 an Army review board re-examined every Army award and struck 911 names from the roll — most of them members of a single regiment, the 27th Maine, who had been promised medals for re-enlisting. The following year Congress created the Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal, and later the Silver Star, so that lesser acts of bravery could be recognized without diluting the nation’s highest honor. The result is often called the pyramid of honor, with the Medal of Honor alone at the top. See the full order of U.S. military decorations.
Three designs
There is not one Medal of Honor but three:
- Army — a gold-finished star surrounded by a green laurel wreath, suspended from a bar inscribed “Valor” and topped by an eagle. It is also awarded to members of the Army Air Service and Air Corps who served before 1947. Army recipients
- Navy — the original 1861 design: a bronze star hanging from an anchor. It is awarded to sailors, Marines and members of the Coast Guard. Navy · Marine Corps · Coast Guard
- Air Force — introduced in 1965, with the head of the Statue of Liberty at its center. It is awarded to members of the Air Force and Space Force. Air Force recipients
All three hang from a light blue neck ribbon with thirteen white stars, adopted in 1944. It is the only decoration American service members wear around the neck, and since 2002 each recipient also receives a Medal of Honor Flag.
Is it the “Congressional” Medal of Honor?
The official name is simply the Medal of Honor. It is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor because the President presents it “in the name of Congress,” and because the organization of living recipients, chartered by Congress in 1958, is called the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Both names refer to the same award.
Who has received it
Our archive holds 3,555 awards. 669 were made posthumously, and 18 people received the medal twice — see our double recipients. 754 recipients were born outside the United States. Only one woman has received it: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War contract surgeon whose medal was rescinded in 1917 and restored in 1977.
By special acts of Congress the medal was also bestowed on the Unknown Soldiers of the United States and of five Allied nations after World War I.
Protected by law
Federal law restricts the manufacture and sale of the Medal of Honor, and the Stolen Valor Act of 2013 makes it a crime to falsely claim the medal in order to obtain money, property or another tangible benefit. Replicas cannot legally be sold, which is why authentic medals appear in museums and family collections rather than at auction.
Explore the recipients
Start with the conflict pages, look up your state on the state directory, see who performed their act of valor on today’s date, or read about how the medal is awarded today.