The Order of Maternal Glory (russian: Орден «Материнская слава», translit=Orden "Materinskaya slava", translit-std=ISO, italic=yes) was a Soviet civilian award commemorating mothers with a substantial number of children, created on 8 July 1944 by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

and established with a decision of the Presidium of

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

. Its status was confirmed by the Soviet's decision of 18 August 1944 and later modified by 16 September 1947, 28 May 1973 and 28 May 1980 decisions. It was awarded on behalf of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

presidencies.

Classes

The order was divided into three classes: first, second and third class. It was conferred to: * First class: mothers bearing and raising nine children. * Second class: mothers bearing and raising eight children. * Third class: mothers bearing and raising seven children. The order was conferred upon the first birthday of the last child, provided that the other children necessary to reach the qualifying number (natural or adopted) remained alive. Children who had perished under heroic, military or other respectful circumstances, including

occupational disease An occupational disease is any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity. It is an aspect of occupational safety and health. An occupational disease is typically identified when it is shown that it is more prevalen ...

s, were also counted. The award was created simultaneously with the

Mother Heroine Mother Heroine (russian: Мать-героиня, ''Mat'-geroinya'') is an honorary title that was used in the Soviet Union and now Russia, awarded for bearing and raising a large family. The state's intent was not only to honor such large famil ...

(russian: Мать-героиня, italic=yes) order and the Maternity Medal (russian: Медаль материнства, italic=yes) and it was situated in between them. The author of the art project was

Ivan Dubasov Ivan Ivanovich Dubasov (russian: Иван Иванович Дубасов) (30 November 1897, Odintsovo, Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire – 15 March 1988, Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR) was a Russian artist active in the Soviet Union. He was the ...

, then head artist of

Goznak Joint Stock Company "Goznak" (short for ''Государственный знак'', or State Insignia) is a Russian joint-stock company responsible for research and development as well as manufacturing security products including banknotes, coin ...

. The first decree for bestowing the award was issued on 6 December 1944, when the first class order was conferred to 21 women, the second class to 26 and the third class to 27. In total the order was awarded in the first class to 753,000 women, 1,508,000 received the second class award and 2,786,000 received the third class award.

Design

First class medals were totally silver made in a convex egg-shape. They were high and wide. In the upper part of the medal contained a red enamel flag with the phrase (Maternal Glory) and the Roman number showing the order's class. Below the flag, there was a white enamel shield with the (USSR) inscription. The upper part of the shield was decorated with a

five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and ...

and the lower part with the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...

symbol. On the left side, there was a figure of a mother holding a son in her arms covered with roses on her lowest part. The lower part of the medal contains a flag and gilded lettering. In second class medals, the flag's enamel was dark-blue and there were not gilded parts while in the third class ones enamel disappeared from the flag, shield and

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

. The back of the medals was in white enamel. First class medals were suspended to a single light-blue fringe while second class had two light-blue fringes and third class three of them.

References

{{Soviet awards Natalism Civil awards and decorations of the Soviet Union Orders, decorations, and medals for women Awards established in 1944 Awards disestablished in 1991 1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union

Classes

Design

See also

References