The Cross of Valour ( el, Αριστείον Ανδρείας, ''Aristeion Andreias'', lit. "Gallantry/Bravery Award") is the second highest (and until 1974 the highest) military decoration of the

Greek state Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, awarded for acts of bravery or distinguished leadership on the field of battle. It has been instituted three times, first on 13 May 1913 during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

but not issued until 1921 during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, then on 11 November 1940 shortly after the outbreak of the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

and finally in 1974.

History

The award was established through Law ΓΡΣΗ/30-4-1913, as an order rather than a simple medal, but was not formally issued until the Royal Decree of 21 March 1921 (

ΦΕΚ The ''Government Gazette'' ( el, Εφημερίς της Κυβερνήσεως, translit=Efimeris tis Kyverniseos, translit-std=ISO, lit=Government Gazette) is the official journal of the Government of Greece which lists all laws passed in a set ...

47Α’/23-3-1921).Zotiadis (2003), p. 150 The only exceptions to this were King

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, who as head of the Order wore the Commander's Cross, and Vice Admiral

Pavlos Kountouriotis Pavlos Kountouriotis ( el, Παύλος Κουντουριώτης; 9 April 1855 – 22 August 1935) was a Greek rear admiral during the Balkan Wars, regent, and the first President of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times ...

, who received the Commander's Cross from the king on 15 October 1914. As the Cross of Valour was practically defunct, for the operations in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Greek participation in the

Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Leg ...

and the early stages of the

Asia Minor Campaign Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Afr ...

, the 1917 War Cross (originally instituted by the

Government of National Defence The Government of National Defense (french: Gouvernement de la Défense nationale) was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the procla ...

during the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizel ...

) was awarded as the senior award for gallantry and distinguished leadership.Zotiadis (2003), p. 150 For this purpose, when the Cross of Valour was re-instituted in 1921, the Royal Decree allowed the awardees of the War Cross – which was tainted in the eyes of the royalist government by its

Venizelist Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s. Main ideas Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek irredentism: T ...

associations – to petition for its replacement with the new Cross of Valour, but in the event, very few chose to do so. The award was liberally distributed during the campaigns of 1921–1922: from the first awards in July 1921 to the end of the war in August 1922, 40 Commander's Crosses (39 to regimental flags, of which six as repeat awards, and one to Lt General

Anastasios Papoulas Anastasios Papoulas ( el, Αναστάσιος Παπούλας; 1/13 January 1857 – 24 April 1935) was a Greek general, most notable as the Greek commander-in-chief during most of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22. Originally a firm roya ...

, commander-in-chief of the

Army of Asia Minor The Army of Asia Minor ( el, Στρατιά Μικράς Ασίας, links=no) was the field army-level command controlling the Greek forces in Asia Minor (Anatolia) during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. History 1919 Following the Gree ...

), 4,528 Gold Crosses and 47,772 Silver Crosses were awarded. In some cases, after critical battles, the entire personnel of some units was decorated with the Cross of Valour. Awards continued to be made for feats performed during the Asia Minor Campaign even after its end, in 1923 and 1924, with 509 Gold Crosses (230 as repeat awards) and 3 Silver Crosses accounted for. Given the great scarcity of actual medals, however, as well as the political upheavals of the 1920s, many common soldiers – in contrast to most officers – probably never received their awards. With the outbreak of the

on 28 October 1940, the award was re-instituted by Compulsory Law 2646/11-11-1940 (ΦΕΚ Α’/13-11-1940). Until the fall of Greece to the Germans in April 1941, 240 Gold Crosses (11 of them repeat awards) and 300 Silver Crosses were awarded.Zotiadis (2003), p. 161 The awards were continued by the collaborationist government during the Axis Occupation, with two Commander's Crosses (to the war flags of the 6th and 34th Infantry Regiments), 1,922 Gold Crosses (179 as repeat awards) and 4,635 Silver Crosses (3 as repeat awards) issued in the 1941–1944 period, most of them posthumously. The

Greek government in exile The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based in Cairo, Egypt, and hence it is also referr ...

awarded 96 Gold Crosses (9 as repeat awards) and 92 Silver Crosses to Greek and various

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

officers. Following Liberation in October 1944, awards continued for the operations in the Balkans and the Middle East during World War II, with six Commander's Crosses (to the battalion war flags of the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade, the war flags of the

Hellenic Army Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

and the Sacred Band and to King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

), 1,225 Gold Crosses and 1,382 Silver Crosses awarded in 1945–1946. The Cross of Valour continued to be awarded for actions during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

and for the Greek participation in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, as well as for a few cases from World War II, from 1947 to 1955. During this period, eight Commander's Crosses (including, in 1947 to King

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and General and future Prime Minister

Alexandros Papagos Alexandros Papagos ( el, Αλέξανδρος Παπάγος; 9 December 1883 – 4 October 1955) was a Greek army officer who led the Hellenic Army in World War II and the later stages of the subsequent Greek Civil War. The only Greek career of ...

), 4,548 Gold Crosses (including to war flags) and 11,072 Silver Crosses were awarded to Greek and Allied (mostly US) personnel.Zotiadis (2003), p. 162 With the abolition of the monarchy by the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

in 1973, the country's honours system was revised. In April 1974, Law Decree 376/1974 was promulgated, which regulated military awards for wartime and peacetime. It established the

Medal for Gallantry The Medal for Gallantry (MG) is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force. It recognises acts of gallantry in action in hazardous circumstances. The MG was introduced on 15 January 1991, replacing the Imperial e ...

, a new award exclusively for battlefield bravery, ranking above the Cross of Valour, but otherwise repeated the provisions of previous decrees relative to the latter, except that the medal was to be awarded solely for bravery on the battlefield, and no longer for leadership or military merit. The regulations as to award procedure were left to be determined by Presidential Decree. As of 2003, this had not been enacted.Zotiadis (2003), p. 163

Design

The Royal Decree of 31 March 1921 instituted the Cross of Valour in three grades: Commander's Cross (Σταυρός Ταξιάρχη), worn as a badge on a necklet, and the Gold Cross (Χρυσούς Σταυρός) and Silver Cross (Αργυρός Σταυρός), worn as badges on chest ribbons. No limit was set on the number of awards in each grade. The decree specified that the Commander's Cross was to be awarded only to flag officers and

war flag A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countri ...

s; the Gold Cross to senior and junior officers; and the Silver Cross to Warrant Officers, NCOs and common soldiers. The design of the badge was specified as a "crowned cross, bearing in the middle of the obverse side, in a circle of narrow laurel leaves, the image of St. Demetrios, while on the middle of the reverse side in a similar circle it bears the words ("for valour" in Greek)". The Silver Cross was to be made entirely of silver, while the Gold and Commander's crosses where enamelled in white with blue edges. The ribbon consists of five pale blue and white stripes.Zotiadis (2003), p. 151 For each repeat award, a silver 4-millimeter star was added to the ribbon.Zotiadis (2003), p. 153 For

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

awards, a bar with "1940" was placed on the ribbon to distinguish it from the earlier 1913 version.Zotiadis (2003), p. 159 Repeat awards were designated with 5-millimeter miniature silver crowns, although a maximum of three was allowed to be worn on the ribbon. The 1974 version was not finalized until the early 2000s, when a change in design was decided: the crown was replaced by the national emblem of Greece, and the image of St. Demetrios by that of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

Recipients of the Commander's Cross

Gallery

File:Constantine I of Greece.jpg, King

Constantine I of Greece Constantine I ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army ...

wearing the Commander's Cross of the Cross of Valour as Head of the Order File:Anexartitos merarxia - Ambelas Dimitrios.jpg, Colonel D. Ambelas, showing the usual way of wearing the Silver and Gold grades of the Cross of Valour on field uniforms, passed through the second buttonhole File:Anexartitos merarxia 53o syntagma pezikou.jpg, Soldiers of the 53rd Infantry Regiment after the award of the Cross of Valour during the Asia Minor Campaign

References

Sources

* * George J. Beldecos, "Hellenic Orders, Decorations and Medals", pub. Hellenic War Museum, Athens 1991, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross Of Valour (Greece) Valour, Cross 1913 establishments in Greece Awards established in 1913