Name/Title
2007 Vimy Pilgrimage MedalEntry/Object ID
2022.8.13Description
2007 Vimy Pilgrimage Medal. A silver medal with a maple leaf and beaver within the leaf; both are iconic Canadian symbols. Below is a clasp bar that reads "Vimy: April 9, Avril 1917." Below the clasp bar is four vertical bands representing the Canadian divisions at Vimy. The red represents the First Division; the dark blue is Second Division; the grey blue is Third Division; and the green is Fourth Division. Near the bottom of the medal is a cloaked woman standing before a laurel wreath to honor the Canadian fallen. The laurel wreath also represents the Canadian victory at Vimy. The woman's head is bowed, eyes looking down, grieving, and she is engaged in deep thought or prayer. The woman has become known as "Canada mourning her Fallen Sons." On the other side of the medal is the Vimy Memorial, designed by Walter S. Allward. The Canadian federal government built the Vimy Memorial between 1925 and 1936. The Vimy Memorial honors the 60,000 Canadian war dead. The image of the woman reads "Pilgrimage/Pelerinage. The other side of the medal depicts "Fondation, Vimy Foundation."Use
The First World War, Vimy Ridge.Context
The Vimy Pilgrimage Medal was designed in 2007 to honor the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Vimy Foundation provided Canadian students with the medal as it recreated the moment Canadian Great War veterans were given a Vimy medal in 1936.
