The Starfleet Medal of Valor was a prestigious decoration awarded to members of the United Federation of Planets.
History and specifics[]
It was created on reference stardate 1/9604 (circa 2254) by Starfleet Command and was awarded in peace or war time for actions beyond the call of duty. It was a stylised set of stars with each representing one of the founding members of the Federation and was attached to a ribbon of diagonal blue and silver stripes. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)
Thadeus MacDonald earned a Starfleet Medal of Valor for rescuing a marooned survey team of Klingons in the Triangle sector around the time of the Federation-Klingon War of 2267. (FASA RPG module: Conflict of Interests)
Lieutenant Commander Marsha Mintaine of the USS Valkyrie was awarded this medal on stardate 2/9704 (circa 2355) for her appeasement of the hill tribes of planet Loris VIII. This was given even though she had faced considerable physical and emotional injury by the natives but her actions prevented the deaths of her fellow officers. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)