Order of Glory
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Established on 8 November 1943, the Order of Glory (Orden Slavy - Орден Славы) was an Order (decoration) of the Soviet Union. It was awarded to non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file of the armed forces, as well as junior lieutenants of the air force, for bravery in the face of the enemy.
The Order of Glory, which was modelled closely upon the Tsarist Cross of St. George, had three degrees. A person initially received the third degree, and would subsequently be promoted to higher degrees for further acts of bravery; one who received all three degrees was called polniy kavaler ordenov slavy (full Cavalier of the Order of Glory). About 2500 individuals, including four women, had attained this Full Cavalier status.
The badge of the Order was a five-pointed star with a central disc: golden star with golden disc for the 1st degree, silver star with gilt disc for the 2nd degree, and silver star with silver disc for the 3rd degree. The central disc featured the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin, with a red enamelled five-pointed star at its top, and a red enamel scroll at the bottom bearing the word "Slava" (Glory). The reverse had the Cyrillic letters "CCCP" (SSSR, or USSR in English) within a ring.
The ribbon of the Order was orange with three black stripes - the same as that of the Cross of St. George and called the "Georgian Ribbon".
The Order of Glory became defunct upon the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2000, the Order of St. George was revived.
