Amedal is a smallmetal object that is given as anaward for doing something important or to commemorate something. There are medals forsports,military,academics, etc. Some medals havereligious meaning. TheMiraculous Medal has been distributed worldwide, for example. TheNobel Prize is a gold medal given to a few people every year.
Military decorations, service awards, and medals are often confused with one another.Decoration is the term for awards which require acts of heroism or achievement (such as the BritishVictoria Cross or AmericanSilver Star). A service award or campaign medal is awarded for serving in a place and time (such as the Iraq Campaign Medal). In either case, an award or decoration may be presented as a medal.
In theOlympic Games and many other sportscompetitions, medals are give to the top three people who took part in the competition. The winner of the competition is given thegold medal. Thesilver medal is given to the person who came second. The third placed person is given thebronze medal.
Medals are often worn for their religious significance. TheMiraculous Medal is associated with Marian groups like theImmaculata Militia, whose members often wear it every day as a sign of their devotion.
