About the Rack Builder

Back in the winter of 2003, then-1st Lt Michael Moore noticed something at a Civil Air Patrol wing conference: lots of members had their ribbons out of order... and some were even upside down. At the time the CAP awards regulation was only printed in black and white, so it could be hard to tell which way certain ribbons should face.

Michael decided to do something about it. He bought a book on Active Server Pages and taught himself enough to put a simple CAP ribbon rack poster online. The poster proved popular, and members asked for an interactive version so they could build their own racks. By February 2004 the interactive Rack Builder was live.

Over the years the site grew: support for attachments (multiple awards), miniature medal displays, and other improvements were added as requests came in. All ribbon artwork was painstakingly created by Michael (pixel by pixel using Microsoft Paint) to make sure ribbons displayed accurately.

In September 2025, the Rack Builder hit a major milestone: a combined 2,000,000 ribbon racks built between the main builder and the site's historic builder. To celebrate, Michael added an interactive quiz so members can test their ribbon recognition... score high enough and you can be added to the site's Hall of Fame.

The Rack Builder is provided at no cost to Civil Air Patrol members as a helpful resource for getting your ribbons right. If you find it useful, feel free to share it with your unit.