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Air Force Medal | |
---|---|
Front side of the Air Force Medal | |
Country | Spain |
Type | Military decoration |
Eligibility | Military personnel only |
Awarded for | Distinguished peacetime service |
Status | Active |
Statistics | |
Established | 2003 |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | Cruz de Guerra (At War) |
Next (lower) | Crosses of Aeronautical Merit |
Related | Medalla del Ejército Medalla Naval |
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The Air Force Medal (Spanish : Medalla Aérea) is the maximum military award of Spain in peacetime for the air force branch. The regulation for the issue of this medal is modified by the Royal Decree 1040/2003, 1 August (BOD. Núm. 177).
Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.
Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country mostly located in Europe. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
Is made of oxidized iron, oval, 42 millimetres (1.7 in) on its vertical axis and 28 millimetres (1.1 in) on its horizontal axis. On the obverse, surrounded by a silver edge, is a rising sun behind the sea and a matron stands, representing Spain, offering, with the right hand, a laurel wreath and holding a sword with the left. At the top of the oval are the words: "Al mérito distinguido". On the reverse is the emblem of the Air Force. The ribbon is 30 millimetres (1.2 in) wide and divided in three parts: the central with the national colours (red and yellow) and at the sides blue. Each medal has a clasp attached to the ribbon with the legend of the action done in black.
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.
The Spanish Air Force (SPAF) is the aerial branch of the Spanish Armed Forces.
National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols.
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