Queen's Medal for Champion Shot competition in Canada was held for the Canadian Regular Force in 1923 and one King's Medal for Champion Shots in the Military Forces was awarded annually from that year. Beginning in 1963, two medals were awarded in Canada annually, the second to a member of either the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Canadian Reserve Force. A distinct Canadian version of the medal, the Queen's Medal for Champion Shot, was instituted in 1991 and the British version of the medal ceased to be awarded in Canada the following year. Uniquely, it is the only medal in the long list of
Silver Star the medal as the "Silver Star Medal". Since 21 December 2016, the Department of Defense (DoD) refers to the decoration as the Silver Star Medal. The Silver Star Medal is awarded for gallantry, so long as the action does not justify the award of one of the next higher valor awards: the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, or the Air Force Cross. The gallantry displayed must have taken place while in action against an enemy of the United States, while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged