The Wisam Al-Tahir, or Liberation medal, was issued by the Kuwaiti government to members of the Armed Forces who served in the campaign to liberate the country. Approved by the Kuwait Council of Ministers, the medal was awarded in five different classes (generally coinciding with rank) on July 16, 1994. The United States accepted only the fifth-grade medal for all personnel.
The medal criteria states it was presented to members of the Military Coalition who served in Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm in one or more of the following areas between August 2, 1990 and August 31, 1993: the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, parts of the Arabian Sea (10 degrees north latitude and west of 68 degrees east longitude), and the total land areas of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The medal is a bronze medallion suspended from a bar by a wreath. The front features Kuwait's Coat of Arms: a small shield of the flag in enamel superimposed on a falcon whose outstretched wings support a disk containing a traditional dhow sailing ship. The inscription "1991 Liberation Medal" in Arabic curves across the top. On the reverse is a map of Kuwait on a background of rays emanating from the center to the edge of the medal.
The ribbon echoes the flag of Kuwait with three equal stripes of Old Glory red (signifying the blood of Kuwaiti enemies), white (deeds), and Irish Green (meadows) with a black (battlefields) trapazoid-shaped section silk-screened across the top.