The
Victoria Cross, or
VC was instituted by
Queen Victoria on January 29th, 1856 but made retrospective to allow recognition of the bravery of those fighting in the
Crimean War. The award has
precedence over all
British Commonwealth decorations and is given for
gallantry in the face of the enemy.
The cross bears the Royal Crest and the words "For Valour" on the obverse. The reverse of the cross is inscribed with the date of the act of bravery for which the award is being given.
Originally, the colour of the medal ribbon was dictated by which branch of the armed forces the recipient came from; red, (really more of a crimson), for the Army and blue for the Royal Navy. When the Royal Air Force was formed this distinction was dispensed with and, where possible, Royal Navy VC's were retro-fitted with red ribbons.
To date, a total of 1354 Victoria Crosses have been awarded, including three Bar's. The most recent awards were to soldiers who fought in the Falklands War in 1982:
Sergeant Ian McKay, (3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment) killed in action during the assault of Mount Longdon and Colonel "H" Jones, (2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment), who was killed in action during the battle of Goose Green.
Perhaps one of the most interesting facts surrounding this medal is that it is made of bronze, which comes from the melted down cascabels of two cannon captured from the Russians at Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The material remaining from these cascabels is stored in a special vault at the Royal Logistic Corps. The cannon themselves are displayed outside the Officers Mess, in Woolwich, London.
Canada now has it's own Victoria Cross, created in 1993. It is based strongly on the British original; the only significant difference being that the inscription of the original is replaced by its Latin equivalent: "Pro Valore". It is one of three Canadian awards in the country's family of Military Valour Decorations. To date, no Canadian VC's have been awarded.