FAQ: Questions and answers

Absolutely! Don’t spend money you don’t need to. We’re aware that a few miscreants will  tell you that you need to buy a new set of medals, rather than just add one or two (or more) medals to an existing rack. That’s not the case.

Yes, we do need to unmount your existing set, and re-rack your current medals to the existing ones you have, effectively creating a new rack – however we can clean and re-use your existing reproductions without you having to buy new ones.

The only caution, is that if you have poorly-crafted reproductions (soft or brittle pewter sand-cast, rather than die-struck or injection-moulded ones), there’s a chance that a suspender may break during the mounting process. It’s rare, but it can happen, and if there’s a risk of that, we’ll let you know in advance.

Just make sure you send us your current rack via signature mail, and we’ll return them the same way.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you have five medals already, and need two more.

First. Grab the 2 medal rack here;

https://www.gongs.com.au/catalog/court-mounted-medal-racks and add them to your cart.

Second. Then grab a five medal mounting-only option and add the list of medals you’re sending in to remount here;

https://www.gongs.com.au/catalogs/05-medals-precision-mounting-only and add them to your cart.

Done! Checkout with five mounts and two new mounted ones – 7 medals. Easy as!

Only thing left to do is post (registered) your current rack, to Gongs, POB 290, Kelmscott WA, 6991. We’ll return them the same way.

Absolutely! Don’t spend money you don’t need to. We’re aware that a few miscreants tell you that you need to buy a new set of medals, rather than just add one or two (or more) medals to an existing rack. That’s not the case.

Yes, we do need to unmount your existing set, and re-rack your current medals to the existing ones you have, effectively creating a new rack – however we can clean and re-use your existing reproductions without you having to buy new ones.

The only caution, is that if you have poorly-crafted reproductions (soft or brittle pewter sand-cast, rather than die-struck or injection-moulded ones), there’s a chance that a suspender may break during the mounting process. It’s rare, but it can happen, and if there’s a risk of that, we’ll let you know in advance.

Just make sure you send us your current rack via signature mail, and we’ll return them the same way.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you have five medals already, and need two more.

First. Grab the 2 medal rack here;

https://www.gongs.com.au/catalog/court-mounted-medal-racks and add them to your cart.

Second. Then grab a five medal mounting-only option and add the list of medals you’re sending in to remount here;

https://www.gongs.com.au/catalogs/05-medals-precision-mounting-only and add them to your cart.

Done! Checkout with five mounts and two new mounted ones – 7 medals. Easy as!

In a word, yes. Although there is no official protocol allowing the wearing of relatives’ medals, it has long been accepted that you are welcome and encouraged to wear your own or your relative’s medals during commemorative ceremonies and parades.

If you’re wearing medals issued to someone else, they should be worn on your right hand side.

Yes, all medals have ribbons (more correctly, a riband) but not all ribbons have medals.

For example, unit citations which are not medals, will be a ribbon only. Some have frames and some do not.

In Australia, the Unit Citation for Gallantry, the Meritorious Unit Citation, and the Australian-issue Viet Nam Cross of Gallantry Citation all have frames. The Group Citation for Bravery does not. It’s a citation-shaped metal badge.

Foreign awards can be different. The US Army Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation and the Viet Nam Cross of Gallantry Citation have frames. Many others like the US Navy Unit Commendation and the US Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation have no frames – they are essentially a riband bar and do not have any medal associated with them.

All the above are unit awards.

There are two types of commemorative medals;

1. Officially issued medals that are awarded by a national government – two examples are the Anniversary of National Service Medal 1951-72 and the Armistice Medal (both issued by the Australian government) and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal – issued by the South Korean government.
2. Commercially produced and sold, whether by a commercial organisation or an association (military or otherwise), private commemorative medals which are neither endorsed nor issued by any national government.

In a perfect world, privately sold (whether by an association or company) unofficial  commemorative medals would not be worn. They’re much better framed on a wall.

If however, they are being worn in direct contravention of the Australian System of Honours and Awards, they should be racked separately from official issues, and worn on the right breast, below any officially-issued (like state and territory) awards.

To wear non-issue medals in an effort to infer that private commemoratives are official in any way, simply demeans the value and recognition value of the Australian System of Honours and Awards.

With the large volume of items we ship daily, it normally takes between 3-5 working days before an order leaves the warehouse.

With looming major commemorative events like Anzac Day, Viet Nam Veterans Day, Remembrance Day and Christmas, shipping delays will inevitably occur.

Custom and personalised items may take an additional 7-10 working days. Items that are custom-designed and manufactured from scratch, like challenge coins take from 15-21 working days from the date of final art approval.

There are special circumstances in which we will try to expedite your order.

When you’re asking for special shipping, like overnight, or courier tracked delivery, please keep in mind these are methods of shipping only and do not include weekend delivery.

Orders will still require 3-5 working days to process.

Please note: Expedited shipping methods, like all delivery methods work in business days only and do not include weekend delivery. Any items backordered will be shipped best way possible. 

You sure can, we are more than happy to provide items for ex-service personnel, family members, bona-fide collectors and individuals who just like the high quality of our products.

Our online store crew will begin to process all orders placed before 12pm (AEST) on the same day (weekdays) and provided items are in stock, they may ship within 24-48 hours.

With the large volume of items we ship daily though, it normally takes 3-5 working days before an order leaves the warehouse.

There are special circumstances in which we will try to expedite your order. When asking for special shipping, i.e. for an urgent parade or event, please keep in mind these are methods of shipping only. Orders still require 3-5 working days to process.

Please note: Any items back-ordered will be shipped the fastest way possible within Sendle or Australia Post’s systems.

However during heavy commemoration (including returning deployments) or holiday periods, or if stock is unavailable and is required to be sourced from the warehouse, an order may be delayed by up to 10 days.

If your order is urgent, please contact the Online store with an enquiry via the form below;

Orders are despatched by Sendle tracked courier or Australia Post Express (which require a signature upon delivery), otherwise a card will be left to arrange a redelivery.

Standard delivery can take up to 5 to 10 working days but is fully dependant on the zone where you live. Also keep in mind that both Sendle and Australia Post in many cases outsource to contractors, which can cause delays.

Important: Once an order is shipped – it is outside our control and influence. Please enquire through the Sendle website – https://sendle.com/tracking or Australia Post – https://auspost.com.au/mypost/track/

Always check at your local post office to ascertain the whereabouts of your deliveries. 

Remember though, that Australia Post ‘tracking’ is merely recording the time/date at both ends. There is no genuine ‘tracking’ of parcels enroute.

Yes! We have a retail shop in Kelmscott for orders previously placed online; in addition to our warehouse for fulfilling online orders. 

Generally, our shop hours are weekdays, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm AWST.

We’re closed on weekends, all public holidays, and all commemorative days like ANZAC Day.

Online orders however, are processed the same day if ordered prior to Noon, or the next business day.

If you need to contact us, someone is usually monitoring email both in and outside office hours – so email is most often the fastest way to contact us.  

Long answer short? Whenever you wear mess kit, or formal dinner wear.

Miniatures are for formal occasions, and only in formal wear, usually at night.

For all other occasions, full size medals should be worn.

Miniatures should not be mixed with full sized medals and not worn on casual wear, cocktail outfits, or lounge/business suits.

Medals and commendations issued by local, regional, state or territory governments are not recognised in The Australian System of Honours and Awards.

Honours and awards authorised by the Governor General under the system, are worn on the left breast by the original recipient.

Other awards are worn on the right breast.