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The background image is the international sign for first aid, with a traditional barnstar symbol mounted on it (the image is called the "CPR Star"). It's meant to symbolise a user giving a dying article the "kiss of life". It was first made for User:Shawis on 7 January 2008 after he saved an article I nominated for deletion with some skilful reference finding. It has since been awarded to over 100 users! (as of December 9, 2008)
For those interested, I originally came across her article after a request for help from one of her former crew, Griffiths911. He has some amazing photos of her service during the Falklands War that you should check out. It took me just over three months to achieve FA, involving lots of research, but it all paid off when I was able to impress Griffiths with some facts even he didn't know! Here's what she looked like before I got started, if you fancy a laugh ;)
After taking another article up to FA (against my previous advice), I can reaffirm that you shouldn't push past the GA mark. The FA process's strict guidelines boil down to nitpicking that hurts an article's content. The point of this encyclopaedia and our improving of articles is to educate, not win glossy awards. Having an article on the main page is pretty unpleasant too. A lot of anons edit the article's lead, in the hope that their bad grammar will show up on the main.
AFD
I hate the large amount of unsourced trivial crap there is on Misplaced Pages, I do not believe that it "doesn't do any harm". If something is rubbish then it's mere existence drags the encyclopaedia down. This project will not be taken seriously unless we stop articles like "Knuckles the Echidna" being longer than ones about; The Internet, William Shakespeare and Echidnas!
Congratulations on getting your article up to GA! Keep up the good work! Justin(u) 17:54, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
The Special Barnstar
About time someone decorated your user page with a barnstar, expecially with all your work on HMS Cardiff (D108). Well done mate. Justintalk 15:36, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
For working on HMS Cardiff and promoting what I believe to be the first destroyer ever to achieve Featured Article status I herby award you with the WikiChevrons. Congratulations, and keep up the good work. TomStar81 (Talk) 04:37, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
The Content Review Medal of Merit
In recognition of your contribution in improving Military history articles through A-Class and Peer Reviews, during the period March-May 2008, please accept this Content Review Medal of Merit, --ROGER DAVIES 02:11, 1 July 2008 (UTC)