The Medal of Bravery (french: Médaille de la Bravoure) is a

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Other ...

that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the third highest award for bravery, and one of the three

Canadian Bravery Decorations The Canadian Bravery Decorations are a group of Canadian medals awarded for bravery. They are part of the Canadian Honour System created in 1967. The awards themselves were established in 1972. The Canadian Bravery Decorations recognize courageous ...

gifted by the

Canadian monarch The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the found ...

, generally through his or her

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

- in-Council. Created in 1972, the medal is presented to both living and deceased individuals deemed to have performed "acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances," and grants recipients the ability to use the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

''MB''.

Design

The Medal of Bravery is in the form of a diameter

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

medal with, on the reverse, the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch beneath a

St. Edward's Crown St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at Coronation of the British monarch, the ...

, symbolizing the

's role as the

fount of honour The fount of honour ( la, fons honorum) is a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons. Origin During the High Middle Ages, ...

, and the inscription ''BRAVERY • BRAVOURE''. The obverse bears a maple leaf surrounded by a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

, and the name and rank of the recipient is engraved on the medal's edge. This medallion is worn on the left chest, on a 31.8mm wide ribbon coloured red with three vertical blue stripes: for men, hung from a bar, and for women, on a ribbon bow, both pinned to the left chest. Individual already possessing a Medal of Bravery be awarded the medal again for subsequent acts of bravery are granted a

medal bar A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It most commonly indicates the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the ...

, in silver and bearing a maple leaf, for wear on the ribbon from which the original medal is suspended.

Eligibility and receipt

On 1 May 1972, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, on the advice of her

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

, created the Medal of Bravery to recognize acts of great gallantry. The name of any person, living or deceased, may be submitted to the Canadian Decorations Advisory Council a part of the Chancellery of Honours at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

as a possible recipient of the Medal of Bravery. It is not necessary that the act of bravery take place in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, nor must the person who carried out the act be a Canadian; however, the event must have involved Canadians and/or Canadian interests. Nominations can be made no later than two years following either the act of bravery itself or the conclusion of any coroner's or court's inquest into the events for which the person was nominated. Once they have been decorated with the Medal of Bravery, recipients are granted the right to use the post-nominal letters ''MB''. , the Medal of Bravery has been presented to at least 3300 people, and there have been at least two Bars issued.

Commemoration

The

Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures ...

in 2006 released a general circulation commemorative

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

showing on the reverse a variation of the design of the Medal of Bravery.

Recipients

The following are some notable recipients of the Medal of Bravery: * Charles Stanley Winsor *, awarded 27 August 1990 and awarded bar 10 May 1999 *

Robert Binder Leading Seaman Robert Teodor Binder (27 June 1989 – 22 June 2010), of Mississauga, Ontario, was a member of the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Bravery on 26 November 2010. The citation to his award no ...

, awarded 26 November 2010 * Mary Margaret 'Diane' Brock , awarded 2 December 1977 *

Dennis Robinson Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometime ...

, awarded 7 May 1984 * Joseph Jacques Mario Charette , awarded 1 February 1994 * Konrad Lionel Shourie , awarded 18 April 2002 * Éric Fortier , awarded 18 April 2002 * M. Mohamed Chelali , awarded 19 June 2003 *

Paul Landry Paul Landry M.B. (born September 6, 1955) is a French-Canadian polar explorer, author, and adventurer who is the only paid man to ever reach three Geographical poles in a single year. Biography A Franco-Ontarian from Smooth Rock Falls in the ...

, awarded 26 February 2002 * John Boyarski , awarded 19 August 1989 *

Gerry Dawson Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pre ...

, awarded 10 May 1999 * Brett Cairns , awarded 11 Dec 1989 * Milton Keith Chute , awarded 21 June 1991 * Ranger Fontaine Robert Fiddler CD, awarded 23 November 2017 * James Arthur (Jae) Elvish MB* awarded 27 September 2013 and awarded Bar 30 September 2015 *

Gillian Irene MacAulay Gillian may refer to: Places * Gillian Settlement, Arkansas, an unincorporated community People Gillian (variant Jillian) is an English feminine given name, frequently shortened to Gill. It originates as a feminine form of the name Julian, Juli ...

, awarded 22 October 2010

References

External links