WW1 Canadian CEF 3 Year Overseas Service Stripe

The WW1 Canadian CEF 3 Year Overseas Service Stripe is a period insignia awarded to members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Instituted to recognize sustained service, this stripe was typically issued to personnel who had completed three years of overseas duty. The insignia takes the form of a narrow, gold-coloured embroidered chevron, intended for wear on the lower left sleeve of the service dress jacket. Regulations stipulated that each stripe represented one full year of overseas service, and the three-year version indicated significant commitment and participation in the war effort. The CEF service stripes were similar in style to those used by other Commonwealth forces but featured distinctions pertinent to Canadian regulations. These items serve as tangible reminders of the long and often arduous campaigns faced by Canadian soldiers abroad between 1914 and 1918 and are an important element in the study of Canadian military uniforms and insignia from the Great War period.