Order of the Red Star

Order of the Red Star
The Order of the Red Star
Awarded by the  Soviet Union
Type	Single-grade order
Eligibility	Soviet Army and Navy officers
Awarded for	exceptional service in the cause of the defence of the Soviet Union in both war and peace
Status	No longer awarded
Statistics
Established	6 April 1930
First awarded	September 1930
Last awarded	19 December 1991
Total awarded	3876740
Ribbon of the Order of the Red Star

Established on 6 April 1930, the Order of the Red Star (Russian: Орден Краснoй Звезды) was an order of the Soviet Union, given to Red Army and Soviet Navy personnel for "exceptional service in the cause of the defense of the Soviet Union in both war and peace". It was established by Resolution of the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR of April 6, 1930. The first recipient was Vasily Blyukher in September 1930 ^[1].

The Order consisted of an enamelled red pentagonal star, with a white metal image of a soldier bearing a rifle in the center. Below the soldier are the letters "СССР" (SSSR), and surrounding him is the Communist motto, "Workers of the world, unite!" At the bottom of the star is the hammer and sickle. The order was worn on the right chest without ribbon; on less formal occasions a ribbon bar, dark red with a silver central stripe, may be worn instead.

The Order of the Red Star was one of the most common military decorations during the German-Soviet War, with almost 3 million awards made to more than 2 million individuals, many of whom were junior officers.

From 1944 to 1958, until the establishment of the Irreproachable Service Medal, the order was also used as a long service award, to mark fifteen years of service in the military, state security, or police.

References

1. ^ Great Russian Encyclopedia (2005), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 3, p. 618.

External links

• Soviet-Awards.com A non-commercial website
• Russian language, non-commercial website