The Gallantry Cross, Silver, post-nominal letters GCS, was instituted by the President of the

Republic of Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...

in 1985, for award to all ranks for courage or bravery or valour beyond the normal call of duty.South African Medal Website - Venda Defence Force
(Accessed 30 April 2015)

The Venda Defence Force

The 900 member Venda Defence Force (VDF) was established upon that country's independence on 13 September 1979. The Republic of Venda ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and the Venda Defence Force was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).Warrant of the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of the "UNITAS MEDAL-UNITAS-MEDALJE", Gazette no. 16087 dated 25 November 1994.

Institution

The Gallantry Cross, Silver was instituted by the President of Venda in 1985. It is the junior award of a set of two decorations for bravery, along with the

Gallantry Cross, Gold The Gallantry Cross, Gold was instituted by the President of the Republic of Venda in 1985, for award to all ranks for extreme courage or supreme bravery or valour beyond the normal call of duty.

. Venda's military decorations and medals were modeled on those of the Republic of South Africa and these two decorations are the approximate equivalents of, respectively, the

Louw Wepener Decoration The Louw Wepener Decoration, post-nominal letters LWD, is a military decoration for bravery which was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1952. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for acts of the most conspicuous ...

and the

Honoris Crux (1975) The Honoris Crux (Cross of Honour) of 1975, post-nominal letters HC, is a military decoration for bravery which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa on 1 July 1975. The decoration was awarded to members of the South African Defence F ...

Award criteria

The cross could be awarded to all ranks for courage or bravery or valour beyond the normal call of duty.

Order of wear

Since the Gallantry Cross, Silver was authorised for wear by one of the statutory forces which came to be part of the

South African National Defence Force The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the Military, armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the Military branch, armed services. They are in turn a ...

on 27 April 1994, it was accorded a position in the official South African order of precedence on that date.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, ;Venda Defence Force until 26 April 1994: Ribbon - Distinguished Service Medal, Gold

Ribbon - Distinguished Service Medal, Gold

*Official VDF order of precedence: ** Preceded by the

(GCG). ** Succeeded by the Distinguished Service Medal, Gold. *Venda official national order of precedence: ** Preceded by the National Force Gallantry Cross, Silver (PCF). ** Succeeded by the Police Gallantry Cross, Silver (PCF). ;South African National Defence Force from 27 April 1994: HC2lint

*Official SANDF order of precedence: ** Preceded by the

(HC) of the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. ** Succeeded by the

Cross for Bravery The Cross for Bravery was instituted by the State President of the Republic of Transkei, for award to all ranks as a decoration for bravery.Republic of Transkei A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

. *Official national order of precedence: ** Preceded by the Police Insignia for Bravery of the Republic of Ciskei. ** Succeeded by the Police Gallantry Cross, Silver (PCF) of the

. The position of the Gallantry Cross, Silver in the official order of precedence was revised twice after 1994, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first in April 1996 when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks on ...

and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003, but it remained unchanged on both occasions.

Description

;Obverse The Gallantry Cross, Silver is a cross pattee, struck in silver, which fits in a circle 45 millimetres in diameter, with a silver hare's bobtail within a red circlet in the centre.Uniform: SA Army: Former Forces Medals - Venda Defence Force (BDF)
/ref> ;Reverse The reverse displays the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Venda. ;Ribbon The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide and dark brown, with 4 millimetres wide dark blue edges and a 4 millimetres wide white band in the centre.

Discontinuation

Conferment of the Gallantry Cross, Silver was discontinued when the Republic of Venda ceased to exist on 27 April 1994.

References

{{South African military decorations and medals Military decorations and medals of Venda Awards established in 1985 Awards disestablished in 1994 1985 establishments in Africa 1994 disestablishments in Africa