The rosette remains an unusual feature for a British medal and was used partly for economy and speed of manufacture, and also as otherwise fewer than two hundred medals would have been issued to the Royal Air Force. While for other arms the vast majority of the medals were issued with a rosette, over 90% of the medals issued to the Royal Air Force are without the rosette, with the recipients mainly stationed on Ascension Island, some north of the Falkland Islands and the war zone.