medal vs ribbon

medal and ribbon both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
medal	Yes	No	No	No
ribbon	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, medal and ribbon are synonyms defined as:

medal and ribbon: an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event

Other synonyms of medal include decoration, laurel wreath, medallion, palm.

medal (noun)	ribbon (noun)
an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event	notion consisting of a narrow strip of fine material used for trimming
	a long strip of inked material for making characters on paper with a typewriter
	an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event
	any long object resembling a thin line