The Diekirch March: Luxembourg's International March and the Medal of John the Blind

Every late spring, the small town of Diekirch in northern Luxembourg fills with marchers from more than forty countries. For two days they walk the rolling Ardennes routes — 12, 20, or 40 kilometres a day — and at the end they pin on one of Europe's most distinctive marching medals: a mounted knight, King John of Luxembourg, with crossed cannons on the ribbon for those who complete the hardest category of all, 40 kilometres on both days.

This guide explains the Marche Internationale de Diekirch — its history, its medal, its standard, and how the repeat-completion devices on the ribbon work.

The Médaille de Marche Internationale de Diekirch. The crossed cannons mark completion of the top category — 40 km on both days — and the numeral device records repeat completions; the "3" on this ribbon is a third completion.

A March Born From Liberation

The march was first held in 1968, organized by the Luxembourg Army as the "Marche de l'Armée" — the Army March. The inaugural edition drew just 267 participants. Its purpose was remembrance: the march commemorates the liberation of Luxembourg twice from foreign oppression, and honors the U.S. soldiers who liberated the country in 1918 and again in 1944. The routes run through the Ardennes of northern Luxembourg — ground that American soldiers know from the winter of 1944–45.

After the pandemic years, Luxembourg Defense handed the march to a civilian association, the Marche Internationale de Diekirch asbl, which runs it today. It has grown into one of Europe's great international marches: roughly 8,000 participants a year, more than 250,000 finishers since 1968, and marchers from over 40 countries — about 40 percent of them military, including more than 2,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force personnel in recent years.

The Medal of John the Blind

The mounted knight on the medal is John of Luxembourg (1296–1346), King of Bohemia — remembered as John the Blind, the chivalric king who died fighting at Crécy in 1346 and remains a national hero of Luxembourg. The Médaille de Marche Internationale de Diekirch is a permanent, wearable award of the Armed Forces of Luxembourg, documented from the first participation in a bronze grade, with the ribbon carrying the story of each marcher's history at the event.

The March Today

The march runs over two days, usually a Saturday and Sunday in late spring (May or early June), starting and finishing in Diekirch. Each day offers three routes — 12 km, 20 km, or 40 km — and marchers choose to walk Saturday, Sunday, or both days, individually or in a group. The distance combinations build the award categories: a single day at any route, two days of 20 km (40 km total), and the premier category, two days of 40 km — 80 km across the weekend.

The U.S. Army's summary of the in-person standard puts it plainly: civilians complete 20 km, while military members complete 40 km during the two-day hike around the city.

The Standard

Diekirch is an endurance march, not a loaded-ruck test. Under the march's published rules, there is no required rucksack weight — in the organizers' words, there is no weight restriction of luggage for military persons. (Many military teams choose to march with a rucksack of about 35 lb anyway; that is custom, not a rule.) The published rules state no pace standard: completing your registered route is the standard. Participation is open without age limit for civil and military persons alike; children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.

Repeat Marches: Numbers and Crossed Cannons

Diekirch rewards those who come back. Repeat completions are marked by numeral devices — "2", "3", "4" — worn on the ribbon, recording how many times the marcher has earned the medal. The crossed cannons device denotes successful completion of the 2 × 40 km category, the highest the march offers: eighty kilometres of Ardennes road in a single weekend.

What About Marching It From Home?

During the pandemic the march adapted: the 2020 and 2021 editions were canceled, and in 2022 the organizers authorized a virtual edition, which U.S. units completed at home stations — the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion's event in Buckeye, Arizona, in September 2022 was the largest individual U.S. marching event of that virtual edition. Those were emergency accommodations. Since 2023 the march has been held only as a live event in Diekirch, and the organizers have stated that virtual events are no longer authorized and will not be recognized. If you want this medal, the road runs through Luxembourg — there is no remote path, and any offer of one should be treated with suspicion.

Wearing the Medal

For U.S. soldiers, wear of the Diekirch medal had a complicated chapter: it was removed from the Army's approved-for-wear list in August 2022, then reauthorized on 14 December 2022, backdated to 31 August 2022. It is listed on the U.S. Army Human Resources Command's Foreign Award Chart 2, wearable after chain-of-command approval under AR 600-8-22. Our Foreign Badges page explains how foreign-award wear approval works in general.

Questions

When is the next march? The march is held each year in late spring. The organizers publish the exact dates at marche.lu — check there before making travel plans.

Can Rucking Tough register me or verify a remote completion? No. We do not host, register, or verify this event, and remote completions are not recognized by the organizers. Registration is through the Marche Internationale de Diekirch asbl.

Which marches in this library can a unit host locally instead? Denmark's Flyver March was built for exactly that — sanctioned host-unit editions under Royal Danish Air Force rules. Compare all of them in the Foreign Marching Badges guide.