Talk:Medal of Honor

The Tiffany Cross is rare only because it was an Unauthorized version of the Medal, and is not recognized as an actual Medal of Honor by the Institute of heraldry, which is the official source and custodian of all US Medals. In today's language, it is considered a "Knockoff". SSG Cornelius Seon (US Army, Retired) (talk) 17:37, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Where did you hear that from? The Tiffany Cross version was not unauthorized and is as valid as any of the other historical versions of the medal. See this article from the Navy, for example, which talks at length about the Tiffany Cross version. It is in no way a "knockoff". jwillbur 03:57, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

It is the USAIOH Itself that presents the official history of all three MOH at the following link: MEDAL OF HONOR, and the Tiffany Cross is not even mentioned. I looked at the Navy page you linked, and it is obvious that the Navy established the Tiffany Cross in violation of the authorized design, and it remained one of many such violations over the years. Indeed, the number of these violations is exactly why the authorized design was changed in 1904 to the current basic design that was modified to meet the needs of the three services. The War Department - which had custody of the design at the time - never authorized the Tiffany Cross. It was the Navy - in defiance of the War Department - that authorized the Tiffany Cross. This is one reason Congress ultimately consolidated all of the Heraldic programs first under the War Department, and ultimately the IOH. All of the authorized designs are shown on the link I posted. SSG Cornelius Seon (US Army, Retired) (talk) 04:18, 14 December 2009 (UTC)