The current purpose of the medal is as an award for those wounded or killed (awarded posthumously) in the service of their country. An Oak Leaf Cluster is granted to a person who had been previously wounded and who already has a Purple Heart.

Perhaps one of the most beautifully designed of all U.S. decorations, the medal is a purple heart-shaped badge with bronze edges that depicts a profile relief bust of Washington in the uniform of a general in the Continental Army. The reverse side bears the inscription "For Military Merit" with the recipient's name below.

Intrinsically, the Purple Heart is the world's costliest military decoration - nineteen separate operations are required to make it from the rough heart stamped from bronze to the finished medal, plated with gold and enameled in various colors, suspended from a purple and white ribbon.