Award star

An award star is a decoration issued to personnel of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in lieu of multiple awards of the same award. An award star is very similar to an oak leaf cluster, which serves the same purpose in the United States Army. Award stars are sometimes referred to as Gold Stars and Silver Stars (not to be confused with the Silver Star Medal).

Award stars are issued in two degrees, gold and silver, with silver considered the higher degree as is the tradition in the U.S. military. An award star is issued in lieu of multiple awards of the same decoration with the first award star issued for the second award of the decoration. For instance, if a service member received three Achievement Medals, their service record would reflect the Achievement Medal with two gold award stars.

Silver award stars are issued in lieu of five gold, meaning that a silver star is provided for the 6th, 11th, 16th and so on, for subsequent awards of a decoration. There are no higher degrees of award stars authorized in lieu of five silver award stars.

It is a common misunderstanding to mistake the silver award star for the Silver Star medal, which is an entirely different decoration.

Award stars are only issued for individual medals which are awarded for combat or meritorious actions. They are not issued for service medals, which receive service stars.

source to:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Award_star