Methods of Wear

Authorized Methods for Wearing Orders, Medals, and Decorations

The “Methods of Wear” have been reasonably consistent throughout the history of South Korea. The Korean Government initially had a separate law governing the wearing of their Orders, Merit Medals, Kijang Medals, and Commendations, but in 1964 that section of the law was incorporated into the Decorations Law.

There are a couple of things that should be mentioned. When wearing multiple 1^st Class orders on a sash, a person is required to wear the highest decoration and breast star, and only the breast stars from the other (lower prestige) sashed awards. If a recipient has a 1^st Class with a sash and a 3^rd Class that has no breast star, they cannot wear the 3^rd Class at the same time. You cannot miniaturize any order that is on a sash or cravat. Moreover, miniature medals must be 1/2 the size of the full-size medal. And finally, miniature medals cannot be worn with full-size medals. Although not in the legal code, you cannot wear commendations below the prime ministerial level with any decoration given by the central government. However, because of the vagueness in the law, it happens relatively frequently. All that being said, there is a caveat. Miniature Breast Stars are known to exist because there are situations where Korean diplomats and high-ranking Korean military officers need to wear miniatures to conform with the other attendees of an event. Miniatures have been manufactured for these situations, even though it violates the legal codes. For more on miniature medals, see my webpage on the subject.

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