The circular medal is made of gold plated base-metal. The obverse depicts the New Zealand Coat of Arms. The reverse, depicts a bouquet of flowers native to New Zealand. This bouquet has fern fronds and flowers of the Pohutukawa, Manuka, Kowhai, and Mount Cook Lily. Across the base of the bouquet is a scroll bearing the words "FOR SPECIAL SERVICE". This design is shared by all three medals. The medal is suspended from a ribbon is 32 mm wide. The ribbon design varies based on the conditions under which the medal is awarded.
The NZSSM is a retrospective award, established 24 July 2002, presented to personnel who were part of a New Zealand Government presence at atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1950s and one in 1973. The tests recognized by this medal were at:
The ribbon of this medal has black, white, red and crimson stripes at the left side with an orange center stripe and crimson, red, white and black stripes at the right side.
New Zealand Special Service Medal (Asian Tsunami)
The NZSSM was established on 22 December 2005 to recognize service in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. It recognizes a minimum of 7 days service from 26 December 2004 to 28 February 2005, or a minimum of 14 days from 26 December 2004 to 26 December 2005. Qualifying service is relief, recovery and reconstruction in affected countries. Countries affected where New Zealand citizens served were Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand. The ribbon of this medal has eleven vertical stripes of equal width in of red, white, blue, orange, green, yellow, green, orange, blue, white, and red. These colors are representative of the national flags of the countries affected by the tsunami.
New Zealand Special Service Medal (Erebus)
The NZSSM was established November 2006 to recognize service in the aftermath of the crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 on Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica on 28 November 1979. Qualifying service includes body recovery, crash investigation and victim identification. Service was performed at the crash site; during support and supply flights in and out of the crash site; at McMurdo Station; or the mortuary at Auckland University School of Medicine. The ribbon of the medal is seven vertical stripes in dark blue, light blue, white, black, white, light blue, and dark blue.
