Red Cross, The Royal, a decoration instituted by Queen Victoria in 1883. It is conferred on any ladies, English or foreign, recommended by the Secretary of State for War, for special exertions in providing for the nursing, or for attending to sick and wounded soldiers and sailors. The decoration is a cross of crimson enamel gold-edged, attached to a dark-blue ribbon red-edged, one inch in width, tied in a bow and worn on the left shoulder.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia,1912.