U.S.
The new Mexican Border Defense Medal uses design from over a century ago
Stars and Stripes
August 24, 2025
The Mexican Border Defense Medal is pictured at the Pentagon, Aug. 20, 2025. The medal will be awarded to service members deployed to the U.S. international border with Mexico for Defense Department support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Alexander Kubitza/Department of Defense.)
The Mexican Border Defense Medal is identical in design to the Mexican Border Service Medal from 1918.
The medal is bronze with a yellow and green ribbon symbolizing civic virtue by serving the government in the pursuit of freedom, the Department of Defense said in a news release Saturday.
The medal’s front side has a sheathed Roman sword hanging on a tablet symbolizing war or military strength and is sheathed to indicate service in the U.S., rather than in actual combat. There is also an inscription that reads “For Service on the Mexican Border.”
The Mexican Border Defense Medal is pictured at the Pentagon, Aug. 20, 2025. The medal will be awarded to service members deployed to the U.S. international border with Mexico for Defense Department support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Alexander Kubitza/Department of Defense)
On the reverse side is the Coat of Arms of the U.S., above a scroll and surrounded by a wreath ending at the center with cross rifles in dexter, crossed sabers in sinister and crossed cannons in base. The wreath represents achievement. The rifles, sabers and cannons represent the infantry, cavalry and artillery.
To qualify for the Mexican Border Defense Medal, troops must have been “permanently assigned, attached, or detailed” to a unit that deployed as part of a designated Defense Department operation supporting federal border agents for 30 days, according to a Pentagon memo.
Eligible service members will receive the Mexican Border Defense Medal instead of the Armed Forces Service Medal, which had been awarded to troops supporting federal agents along the U.S.-Mexico border starting in 2019, according to the memo. Troops and veterans who have already received the Armed Forces Service Medal can apply with their military branches to receive the Mexican Border Defense Medal, but they cannot receive both medals for the same period of service, according to the memo.
The Mexican Border Defense Medal was officially established Saturday to recognize U.S. service members deployed along the southern border since Jan. 20 to support Border and Customs Protection agents. The Mexican Border Service Medal recognized service members assigned to the U.S.-Mexico border between May 1916 and March 1917, and those who served from January 1916 to April 1917.
U.S. Army Sgt. Georgiana John and Sgt. Ashanti Boatwright, both assigned to 759th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, under Joint Task Force–Southern Border, dismount while executing a patrol along the protective barrier in Yuma, Ariz., June 27, 2025. (Erica Esterly/U.S. Army)