The United States Armed Forces present the National Defense Service Medal Ribbon to the members of the United States Armed Forces who served during the emergency in the following period:
Korean War – June 27, 1950, and July 27, 1954
Vietnam War – January 1, 1961, and August 14, 1974
Persian Gulf War – August 2, 1990, and November 30, 1995
The Ribbon is red and is bisected at the center by a vertical yellow stripe flanked on each side by thin vertical stripes of red, white, blue, and white.