The Lapland Shield (German: Lapplandschild) was a World War II German military decoration awarded to military personnel of General Franz Böhme’s 20th Mountain Army which fought a two-front campaign against advancing Finnish and Soviet Red Army forces in Lapland between November 1944 and the war’s end in May 1945. It was awarded to men who had "honorably served" for six months in the region or had been wounded during operations there. It was authorized in February 1945 and was the last officially instituted German campaign shield of the war.
With the shield having been approved and designed shortly before the war´s end, early recipients had the award noted in their military pay book in March 1945. However, presentation of the shield only began in July 1945, after Germany´s surrender, with some awards recorded in pay books as late as August 1945.
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