Wear of Navy Service Ribbons
(The Coast Guard generally follows U.S. Navy guidelines) Wear up to 3 in a row; if more than three military ribbons, wear in horizontal rows of three each. The top row contains the lesser number, centered above the row below, no spaces between ribbon rows. Rows of ribbons covered by coat lapel may contain two ribbons each and be aligned. Wear ribbons with lower edge of bottom row centered 1/4 inch above left breast and parallel to the deck.
Coast Guard members may either wear the senior three ribbons or all ribbons when they are covered by lapel by 1/3 or more. Rows can be decreased to 2 or 1 if all ribbons are worn in this situation.
Wear of Full Size Decorations & Navy Service Medals
Wear large military medals on full dress uniforms. Align bottom row same as ribbon bars. All rows may contain maximum of 3 medals side by side or up to 5 overlapping. Overlapping is proportional with inboard medal showing in full. Mount medals so they cover suspension ribbon of the medal below. When large medals are worn, all unit citations and ribbons with no medal authorized are centered over the right breast pocket the bottom edge 1/8 inch above the top of the pocket.
Wear of Miniature Navy Medals
Wear miniature navy medals with all formal and dinner dress uniforms. Place holding bar of lowest row of miniatures 3 inches below the notch, centered on the lapel. Center the holding bar immediately above the left breast pocket on the blue and white service coat. You may wear up to five miniature medals in a row with no overlap on the dinner jacket, center up to 3 miniature medals on the lapel. Position 4 or more miniatures at the inner edge of the lapel extending beyond the lapel to the body of the jacket.