About medals, and MEDALS

One of the trappings of micronationalism that fascinates Us is the phaleristics - that is, the medals and awards that micronational rulers award to themselves, their citizens, and other micronational rulers.  Slabovia has a large and well-established ecosystem of awards, but We are certainly not the only ones doing it, and Our way isn't necessarily the best way.  Indeed, We have made a few mistakes over the years that have somewhat limited us after the fact.  (Hint: while standardizing on one ribbon width is strongly recommended, We cannot endorse 1-3/8" as that standard width, due to the relative scarcity of ribbons of that width.)

In order to document our own lessons learned, as well as to educate the public about the splendor of micronational awards, We ordered and endowed the creation of the Microphalerist Educational Archive and Library of Slabovia, or MEDALS, as a site where micronations can submit their awards to be documented.  Hopefully this will inspire micronationals to create more beautiful and meaningful awards, prevent duplication (accidental or otherwise), and help the public to see the wonderful work being done by micronations in this field.

The main rules of submission are:
1. Anything submitted to the site must exist in the real world, no "virtual-only" awards.  This isn't to disparage virtual micronations (I'm sure some people would consider Slabovia to be one of those), it's so that a) We don't get inundated with submissions that only exist in the fertile minds of their creators, and b) We can create a travelling exhibit and someday even have museum exhibitions of micronational awards.

2. No awards that are awarded by a "macro-state" or other non-micronational entity should be submitted.  This goes back, in part, to concerns about stolen valour.  Not to single anyone out, but We have seen micronationals wearing macronational medals that they could never have been awarded in real life, including high awards for military valour.  Quite honestly, We feel that this disparages and cheapens the hard work being done by many micronationalists, and can only hurt the field as a whole.

Of course, We prefer that people contribute an exemplar specimen of their awards for the archives (for the travelling exhibit opportunities mentioned above), but photographic evidence can also be submitted to the archive.