Queen's Commendation for Bravery

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The Queen's Commendation for Bravery is one of the United Kingdom awards granted for bravery entailing risk to life and meriting national recognition. The award may be granted posthumously and is not restricted to British subjects. The award does not give rise to post nominal letters and is denoted by a silver spray of laurel leaves.

Bravery awards are made in recognition of specific acts by individuals who risk their own lives in a selfless way in order to save, or attempt to save, the life of one of The Queen's subjects. They are also used to recognise similarly selfless brave acts undertaken in the prevention of crime or in the arrest or attempted arrest of dangerous criminals.

Anyone may nominate a person for a bravery award, though the majority of cases are made through official channels such as the police or fire service. All cases are assessed on their own merits and against criteria established by precedent. There is no limit on the number of awards and they may be made at any time, although they will usually be published in two lists each year.

For civilian awards, the Ceremonial Secretariat co-ordinates the assessment of nominations and the Prime Minister submits them to the Sovereign for approval. The Ministry of Defence considers awards recognising acts of bravery in military operations.