Efficiency Decoration

The Efficiency Decoration (ED) is a defunct medal of Britain and the Commonwealth awarded for meritorious and long service in the Territorial Army of the UK, the Indian Volunteer Forces and Colonial Auxiliary Forces. This award superseded the awards to officers throughout the volunteer forces of Britain and the Commonwealth including the Territorial Decoration.

The criteria were for a minimum of 12 years service in the Territorial Army, with war service and West African peacetime service counting double. Bars for further periods of six years were also awarded.

The medal was superseded in the UK in 1999 by the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal. In other Commonwealth Nations, Canada was the first to have another decoration supersede it; the Canada Decoration of October 1942, to present.

The equivalent award for other ranks was the Efficiency Medal.

Scroll Inscriptions
The fixed suspender bar was decorated with an inscribed scroll the inscription of which had a number of variations.
 * TERRITORIAL: This was the inscription for those serving in the Territorial Army of UK. It lasted from 1930 to 2000, with a hiatus of approximately 12 years when the T&AVR inscription was used (see below). During this period there were 4 Obverse types for the main body of the medal being the two effigies of George VI and the two of Elizabeth II).
 * MILITIA: This was granted to members of the Supplementary Reserve until the formation of the Army Emergency Reserve in 1951 which had its own medal. It lasted from 1930 to 1951. During this period there were 3 Obverse types for the main body of the medal being the one effigy of George V and the two effigies of George VI.
 * T&AVR: This was introduced when the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve was created and lasted from 1969 to 1982 after which the TERRITORIAL inscription was resumed. During this period there was one Obverse type for the main body of the medal being the second effigy type of Elizabeth II.
 * (NAME OF COMMONWEALTH COUNTRY): For medals awarded to a member of a force outside of the United Kingdom the scroll had the name of the country of that force inscribed upon it. During this period all 5 Obverse types were used across the various medals for the main body of the medal, although not all countries had all five types.

The countries were:
 * Antigua (only one effigy on Obverse (Elizabeth II type 1)
 * Australia (all five Obverse effigies)
 * Barbados (all five Obverse effigies)
 * Bermuda (all five Obverse effigies)
 * British Guiana (four Obverse effigies, the exception being type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * British Honduras (four Obverse effigies, the exception being type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Burma (only one effigy on Obverse (George VI type 1))
 * Canada (all five Obverse effigies)
 * Ceylon (four Obverse effigies, the exception being type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Dominica (only one effigy on Obverse (George VI type 1))
 * Falkland Islands (four Obverse effigies, the exception being type 2 of George VI)
 * Fiji (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 1 of George VI)
 * Gibraltar (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 1 of George VI)
 * Gold Coast (only two effigies on Obverse (George VI type 1 and 2)
 * Grenada (only one effigy on Obverse (George VI type 1))
 * Guernsey (four Obverse effigies, the exception being George V)
 * Hong Kong (all five Obverse effigies)
 * India (only two effigy on Obverse (George V and George VI type 1)
 * Jamaica (four Obverse effigies, the exception being type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Jersey (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 1 of Elizabeth II)
 * Kenya (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Leeward Island (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Malaya (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Malta (four Obverse effigies, the exception being George V)
 * Mauritius (only one effigy on Obverse (Elizabeth II type 1))
 * Montserrat (only one effigy on Obverse (Elizabeth II type 2))
 * New Zealand (all five Obverse effigies)
 * Nigeria (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being type 1 of George VI and type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Rhodesia/Nyasaland (only one effigy on Obverse (Elizabeth II type 1))
 * St Christopher Nevis (only one effigy on Obverse (Elizabeth II type 1))
 * St Lucia (only one effigy on Obverse (George VI type 1))
 * St Vincent (only one effigy on Obverse (George VI type 1))
 * S. Rhodesia (four Obverse effigies, the exception being type 2 of Elizabeth II)
 * Trinidad/Tobago (three Obverse effigies, the exceptions being George V and type 2 of Elizabeth II)

Ribbon Variations

 * Honourable Artillery Company: For members of the Honourable Artillery Company the ribbon differed, being a half blue, half scarlet ribbon, with yellow edges. This distinction was bestowed by King Edward VII for the Volunteer Long Service And Good Conduct Medal and the honour extended to the same medals under the Territorial designations. The HAC ribbon colours were the household colours of King Edward VII.

Name and post-nominal Variations
When the Efficiency Decoration was awarded to a Territorial Army officer, it continued to be known as the Territorial Decoration or as Efficiency Decoration (Territorial) and the recipient still used the letters TD after their name.

Note regarding South Africa
The Efficiency Decoration (South Africa) is a very similar medal but is not included in the above Commonwealth Country types because it is a separate medal. The scroll inscription read UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA, but the inscription also had the Afrikaans equivalent below as well as the reverse of the medal bearing a bilingual inscription.