The Order of Playa Girón is a national order conferred by the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

on Cubans or foreigners. It was established in 1961 and is named after the Playa Girón (Girón beach), site of the Cuban victory in the

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

Description

The order takes the form of a gold medal with pin and ribbon. The obverse of the medal depicts a soldier in fighting attitude, with one foot on the Cuban archipelago and the other on the North American mainland. Earlier versions included the Cuban motto, "Patria o Muerte" (Homeland or Death), while later versions include the Cuban colours above, a wreath below, and the words "Orden Playa Girón" (Order of Playa Girón). The reverse depicts the coat of arms of Cuba and the wording "Consejo de Estado" and "República de Cuba" (Council of State, Republic of Cuba).

Recipients

Overview

The first recipient was the

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

, who travelled to Cuba to receive the award on 26 July 1961, the Day of the National Rebellion, from President Osvaldo Dorticos, just over three months after becoming the first human in space. All recipients of the Hero of the Republic of Cuba also receive the Order of Playa Girón. Recipients have included prominent international figures including

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

and

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, as well as a number of other cosmonauts, Soviet military leaders, and independence fighters.

List of recipients

, Soviet cosmonaut (26 July 1961) #

, American political activist (1972) #

Samora Machel Samora Moisés Machel (29 September 1933 – 19 October 1986) was a Mozambique, Mozambican politician and revolutionary. A Socialism, socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the coun ...

, President of Mozambique (October 1973) #

Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She was the first Women in space, woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. S ...

, Soviet cosmonaut (29 March 1974) #

, President of the Palestinian National Authority (November 1974) #

, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1976) # Salim Rubai Ali, head of state of the

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until its unification with the Yemen Arab Republic in 19 ...

(South Yemen) (1977) #

Rafael Cancel Miranda Rafael Cancel Miranda (July 18, 1930 – March 2, 2020) was a poet, political activist, member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. On March 1, 1954, Cancel Miranda and three other Nationalists (Lo ...

, Puerto Rican independence fighter (1979) # Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican independence fighter (1979) # Irvin Flores, Puerto Rican independence fighter (1979) # Oscar Collazo, Puerto Rican independence fighter (1979) # Andrés Figueroa Cordero, Puerto Rican independence fighter (1979, posthumous) # Yuri Romanenko, Soviet cosmonaut (1980) #

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born 29 January 1942) is a Cuban military officer, legislator, and former cosmonaut and the first person of African heritage in space. In 1980, as a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first Cuban citizen, t ...

, Cuban cosmonaut (1980) # Leonid Popov, Soviet cosmonaut (1980) # Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet cosmonaut (1980) #

, South African political prisoner (1984) #

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Childhood Oliver Tambo was ...

, South African anti-apartheid activist (24 March 1986) # Sergey Sokolov, Soviet commander (1986) # Valery Ryumin, Soviet cosmonaut # The Cuban Five, Cuban intelligence officers Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, René González and Fernando González. Awarded in 2001 and presented on their release from prison in 2015. # Enrique Carreras Rolas, Cuban soldier (2001) #

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

, president of Mexico # Pedro Miret, Cuban soldier (2001) # Julio Casas Regueiro, Cuban soldier (April 2001) # Viktor Kulikov, Warsaw Pact commander-in-chief (2006) # Asela de los Santos, Cuban teacher, revolutionary leader and politician (2009) # Romárico Sotomayor García, Cuban soldier (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of Playa Girón Orders, decorations, and medals of Cuba Awards established in 1961 1961 establishments in Cuba

Description

Recipients

Overview

List of recipients

See also

References