The King George VI Coronation Medal 1937 was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth which took place on 12th May, 1937. It was also the first occasion on which the Coronation Service had been broadcast.

This medal was distributed in a very similar manner to King George V’s Silver Jubilee Medal throughout the Commonwealth, as a personal souvenir of the 1937 Coronation.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – Blue edged with one red and two white stripes

King George VI Coronation Medal 1937 ribbon

Type – Commemorative medal

Suspender - Ring

Eligibility – Commonwealth citizens

Awarded for – Community contribution

Established – 12th May, 1937

Designer – Mr Percy Metcalfe

Naming – Issued unnamed

Total Awarded – 90,279

Clasps – None issued

Description – Silver medal with a diameter of 32mm and no raised rim to the edge. The reverse has a plain background with a crowned and robed conjoined bust of King George and Queen Elizabeth facing to the left. The obverse bears the Royal Cypher “GRI” over the inscription “CROWNED 12 MAY 1937”. Around the rim of the medal is the inscription “GEROGE VI QVEEN ELIZABETH”

Search records within the 'King George VI 1937 Coronation Medal Roll' - These records, kept at TNA under reference QLIB5, contain nominal rolls and category lists for the commemorative medal issued to celebrate the coronation of King George VI. Those receiving the medals include civilians as well as those in the armed forces. This is an indexed collection where the record image can be seen.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

Major L L Gordon ‘British Battles and Medals’

Medal Year book 2006

< gov.uk/medals-campaigns-descriptions-and-eligibility>

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ King_George_VI_Coronation_Medal >

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.

King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)