Victoria Cross (Canada)

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Victoria Cross (Canada)

Awarded by Canada
Type	Medal
Awarded for
Status	Currently awarded

The Canadian Victoria Cross with its Imperial counterpart on a pair of 2004 Canadian postage stamps.

The Victoria Cross (Post-nominal letters "V.C.") is the highest award for valour that can be awarded to members of the Canadian armed forces of any rank in any service, and allies serving under or with Canadian military command. Based on the British version of the Victoria Cross, it is only awarded for extraordinary valour and devotion to duty while facing a hostile force. Since its creation in 1993, no one has received this award, although one has been struck and is expected to be awarded in April, 2007.^[1] This will be the first non-British Victoria Cross awarded by any commonwealth nation with its own version of the VC.

1 Creation
2 Criteria
3 Conferment
4 Insignia
5 Display
6 Comparisons
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Creation

The Victoria Cross, along with other Canadian Military Valour Decorations, were formally requested on December 31, 1992 by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The request was approved by the issue of Letters Patent by Elizabeth II, the Queen of Canada on February 2, 1993. The other awards approved were the Star of Military Valour and the Medal of Military Valour. Upon the creation of the awards, coined the Modern Honours of Canada, the dependence on the British honours system was no longer needed. In the creation of a separate Victoria Cross for their citizens, Canada was following the precedent set by Australia which created its own Victoria Cross in 1991, ^[2] however, preporations for the new Canadian Victoria Cross were underway in 1987, pre-dating the Australian award.

[edit] Criteria

The Canadian Victoria Cross, as with the British VC, is awarded for "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy." The Canadian Government has defined the term enemy as a force hostile towards the Canadian government; which includes the following: armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters, and armed pirates. However, Canada does not officially have to declare war to give acknowledgement of the existence of a hostile force that fits the above description. This means that a Canadian serving as part of a peacekeeping operation is eligible to be awarded the VC if the servicemember fulfills the above criteria. The time period for the service to be eligible for the Victoria Cross is on or after January 1, 1993. The Victoria Cross, along with the other Military Valour Decorations, can be awarded posthumously. Unlike the British VC, the Canadian Victoria Cross can be revoked.

The process of awarding the VC can be done in two ways. The first method is recommendation by a committee called the Military Valour Decoration Advisory Committee. The committee is made up of six members; one appointed by the Governor General and the rest appointed by the Canadian Forces Chief of Defence Staff. The second method can be started by the field commanders. However, the commanders must have permission from the Governor General before the award can take place.

[edit] Conferment

Ninety-four Canadians were awarded the British VC, the last in 1945. The last living recipient, Smokey Smith, died in 2005. No one has been awarded or nominated for the Canadian VC to date, though there have been announcements that Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, will present a Victoria Cross to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in recognition of the gallantry of the Unknown Soldier, at the rededication of the Vimy Memorial on April 7, 2007, the 90th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge. Plans are not final: the deputy herald chancellor at Rideau Hall, Emmanuelle Sajous, said final decisions were yet to be made about how the made-in-Canada Victoria Cross will be presented.^[3]^[4] The proposal was met with mixed response from members of the Royal Canadian Legion and Canadian Forces; detractors felt the Unknown Soldier should not be elevated above his other fallen comrades. It had also been agreed at the time of the patriation of the Unknown Soldier that no award or decoration would be bestowed on the remains.^[5]

[edit] Insignia

The medal is described as a cross with straight arms, measuring 38 mm across, made out of bronze. On the obverse, a lion in the guardant position is standing upon the Royal Crown. Below the Crown, there is a scroll bearing the inscription PRO VALORE (Latin for For Valour). On the reverse of the medal, there is a raised circle, in which the date of the action the VC was awarded for will be engraved.

The medal is suspended from a link forming the letter V. The V is attached to a bar adorned with laurel leaves. On the reverse of this bar, the name of the recipient, their rank and their unit will be engraved. The suspension device and the bar is also made out of bronze.

The ribbon bar is also 38 mm wide and is described as a crimson color. This ribbon design is also used on the British VC.

In the case of a double award, a bar with laurel leaves will be worn on the medal.

The original insignia was created by Prince Albert, Prince Consort to Queen Victoria. The Canadian modifications to the VC were done by Bruce Beatty.

[edit] Display

The Victoria Cross is the highest Canadian decoration in the Canadian honours system, thus it is placed before all other Canadian decorations, including the Order of Canada. It is worn on the left breast as a medal. When the use of a medal is inappropriate, a ribbon bar is worn. The ribbon bar consists of a crimson ribbon, with a small VC medal in bronze placed in the center of the ribbon bar. When there is a second award of the VC, two small VC medals will be placed evenly on the ribbon bar.

[edit] Comparisons

The Canadian Victoria Cross displayed on a Canadian Silver Dollar in 2006

The Canadian VC is based on the British version. The obverse is the same, except for the scroll. The British version has the words For Valour in English only while the Canadian version uses the Latin translation in order that it might be equally appropriate for anglophones and francophones.