The Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal was instituted by King William IV in 1830.

On the Queen Victoria version, introduced after her succession to the throne in 1837, the Hanover emblem was removed from the central shield.

[2][5] In the order of wear prescribed by the British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and its territorial versions rank on par with the Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct (Military) that replaced it in 1930.

Apart from the different obverse designs that came into use with each successive monarch, the suspension of the medal evolved over the years from a small or large ring to a plain curved bar suspender, and eventually an ornamented scroll pattern suspender that was initially a swivelling type and finally a fixed non-swivelling type.

[1][7] The reverse of all versions of the medal is smooth with a raised rim and bears the inscription "FOR LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT" in four straight lines in the centre.

[7] From June 1916 a new ribbon was used, at times crimson or sometimes reddish violet, and edged with 3 millimetres wide white bands.

[1][7] In 1837, upon the coronation of Queen Victoria, the personal union of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended as a result of differing succession laws.

[1] The reverse remained unaltered, while the suspender was still either a large ring or a rectangular wire bar, attached to the medal with an apparently silver clip.

[8] After the death of Queen Victoria, the obverse of the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal was changed to an effigy of the ruling monarch.

[8] The obverse of the George V version, instituted in 1910, shows the King in Field Marshal's uniform, facing left.

[1][7][8] Apart from the new ribbon, two other changes to the British long service and good conduct medal structure occurred during the reign of King George V. In 1910 the territorial versions of the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal were discontinued and replaced by the Permanent Forces of the Empire Beyond the Seas Medal, as a single common award for long service and good conduct in the Permanent or Regular Forces of the Dominions and Colonies.