The award was established by retired Major General Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker in 1922 for the German Colonial Warriors' Association for "members of the associations affiliated to the league and individual members of the federation" in two grades.

The first grade in silver was awarded as a pin back badge to former members of the Imperial Protection Troops, the East Asian Expeditionary Corps, the occupying forces in China and the Imperial Navy, if they served in the colonies or in colonial waters. The II grade in bronze was awarded as a decoration worn on a ribbon, to Germans who did not serve in combat functions in the colonies, but for merit for the colonial cause, or to Germans in Germany who earned particularly high merits in for the promotion on validating the German colonial efforts, as "sponsors, but not being federal members ". However, awards of the latter kind required "the most detailed justification".

Here is a magnificent specimen of the 1st stage in silver-plated bronze with old grown patina.