The Ashanti Star was instituted 1896 and awarded to 2,000+ troops who had taken part in the Ashanti Expedition under Major-General Sir F. C. Scott against the Ashanti King Prempeh, who had been indulging in human sacrifices and cannibalism.

The gun-metal star is believed to be designed by Princess Henry of Battenburg whose husband died of fever during the campaign.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – 31mm wide, yellow with two black stripes.

Ashanti Star ribbon

Type – Campaign medal

Eligibility – British and Colonial forces

Awarded for – Campaign Service

Campaign – Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War

Established – 1896

Designer – Princess Henry of Battenburg (not confirmed)

Naming – issued unnamed

Total Awarded – 2,000+

Clasps – None awarded

Suspender - Ring

Description - Saltire cross with a four-pointed star in the angles

A saltire cross with a four-pointed star in the angles. Obverse has a central medallion with a circlet inscribed "Ashanti 1896" and at the centre an imperial crown. Reverse; within a circular central recess the inscription "From the Queen", the rest of the reverse surface is plain.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

Major L L Gordon ‘British Battles and Medals’

< gov.uk/medals-campaigns-descriptions-and-eligibility>

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashanti_Star >

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.

Ashanti Star (1896)