Military Order of the White Lion

Military Order of the White Lion
Awarded by  Czechoslovakia
Type	5 Class Military Order of Merit
Eligibility	Czech citizens and foreigners
Awarded for	Military merit, either personal acts of bravery or leadership.
Campaign	World War II
Status	No longer awarded
Statistics
Established	9 February 1945
Related	Order of the White Lion
Third class cross and second class star

The Military Order of the White Lion (Czech: Vojenský řád Bílého lva „Za vítězství“), also known as the Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", was an award established on 9 February 1945 to reward military merit, either personal acts of bravery or leadership. ^[1]

The order was presented in five different classes, the first class decorations being a gold breast star, while the second class was a silver breast star. The third class was in the form of a silver cross, enameled in red, and worn suspended from a ribbon on the chest. The fourth and fifth classes were a gold and silver medal respectively. The insignia of the first and second classes borrowed heavily in design from the Order of the White Lion. Both orders utilized an eight pointed star, with the center medallion containing the crowned white lion of the Coat of arms of Czechoslovakia. The difference came with the color of the medallion's border and motto that it contained, being blue on the Military Order of the White Lion. The motto was "Za vítězství" (For victory), versus the Order of the White Lion's motto of "Pravda vítezí" (Truth conquers).

Ribbon bars of the Military Order of the White Lion
First Class Gold Star	Second Class Silver Star	Third Class Cross	Fourth Class Gold Medal	Fifth Class Silver Medal

Notable recipients

• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Douglas Evill
• František Fajtl
• Jozef Gabčík
• Douglas MacArthur
• Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
• Adolf Opálka
• James Robb
• Josef Broz Tito
• Georgy Zhukov

References

1. ^ Robertson, Megan C. (27 December 2005). "Czechoslovak Socialist Republic: Czechoslovak Military Order of the White Lion "For victory"". Medals of the World. http://www.medals.org.uk/czechoslovakia/csr/csr009.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-28.