It was a campaign medal issued to members of the British Armed Forces and certain attached personnel, who served between 20 January 2003 and 22 May 2011 on, or in support of, Operation Telic - the designation for British operations during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.

The Iraq Medal has the following design:[1]It is made of cupro-nickel and 36 millimetres (1.4 in) in diameter.The obverse has the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, with the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID DEF.The reverse shows an image of a Lamassu (an ancient Assyrian statue) above the word IRAQ.The 32 millimetre (1.25 in) wide ribbon is sand colour with three narrow central stripes of black, white, red representing the Iraqi flag.

The medal was awarded to those meeting the qualifying period of service within the defined operational area.

Eligibility was extensive, and included both Regular and Reserve members of the armed forces, foreign and Commonwealth exchange and attached forces, Ministry of Defence civilians, members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and embedded journalists.

This includes a call made by three battle group commanders for a rosette to be issued for Telic 9, (November 2006 – May 2007),[9] the most ferocious deployment to date.