VA Headstone and Marker Application: Forms, Options, and the Medallion Alternative

What the VA Provides Free of Charge

The VA furnishes memorial items at no cost for the unmarked grave of any eligible veteran, regardless of where they're buried — national cemetery, state veterans cemetery, or private cemetery anywhere in the world. The options include:

• Upright marble headstone — white, government-standard, the classic national cemetery marker
• Upright granite headstone — light gray, same dimensions as marble
• Flat granite marker — for cemeteries that require flush-mounted markers
• Flat marble marker — same application
• Flat bronze marker — mounted on a granite base

For veterans buried in national or state veterans cemeteries, the cemetery handles the ordering and installation. For private cemeteries, the family applies separately.

How to Apply: VA Form 40-1330

For a headstone or marker at a private cemetery, complete VA Form 40-1330 (Claim for Standard Government Headstone or Marker) and submit it along with the veteran's DD Form 214 and death certificate.

The form asks for inscription details: name, rank, branch, dates of service, birth and death dates, and a religious or belief emblem (the VA maintains over 70 approved emblems). You can also request a brief personal inscription at the bottom.

The VA ships the headstone or marker directly to the cemetery or funeral home listed on the form. The family is responsible for installation costs at a private cemetery — the VA covers the marker itself but not the setting fee; the research notes that a private cemetery may charge an unexpected $1,000 foundation fee.

The Medallion Option

If the veteran is buried in a private cemetery and the grave is already marked with a privately purchased headstone, a government headstone would mean replacing what's already there. That's where the medallion comes in.

The VA provides a bronze medallion featuring the word "VETERAN" and the branch of service emblem, in small (2 inches), medium (3 inches), or large (6 inches) sizes. The medallion is affixed to the existing private headstone.

Apply using VA Form 40-1330M (Claim for Government Medallion for Placement in a Private Cemetery). The same eligibility and documentation requirements apply.

The critical rule: you cannot receive both a government headstone and a medallion. It's one or the other. Choose based on what's already at the gravesite.

The Urn and Plaque Forfeiture Rule

The VA also offers a free government-provided commemorative urn and a free commemorative plaque. These are designed for families who choose to keep cremated remains at home or in a private display rather than interring them.

But accepting either one triggers a permanent restriction: the veteran becomes permanently ineligible for burial in a national cemetery and forfeits all eligibility for a government headstone, marker, or medallion.

The research describes this restriction as permanent. Families who accept the urn during the initial grief period and later wish they'd chosen national cemetery interment may not regain that eligibility.

Before accepting any government-provided urn or plaque, confirm with absolute certainty that the family has no interest in national cemetery burial — now or in the future.

Spouses and Dependents

Spouses and eligible dependents are entitled to government-provided headstones, but only if they're interred in a national, state, or military post cemetery. The spouse marker is typically inscribed on the reverse side of the veteran's headstone (in national cemeteries) or on a separate companion marker.

Private cemetery burials for spouses do not qualify for government markers.

The Military Funeral & Honors Guide includes a memorial items decision tree that walks through the headstone vs. medallion vs. urn/plaque choice, with the eligibility consequences spelled out at each branch — so families make this decision once, correctly, before accepting anything they can't undo.