List of highest military decorations

This list of highest military decorations is an index to articles that describe the highest military decoration awarded by each country in the world.

Country	Name	Date first awarded	Number awarded	Notes
Argentina	Cross to the Heroic Valour in Combat		18	Last awarded in 1982
Australia	The Victoria Cross for Australia	16 January 2009^[1]	5	Replaced The Victoria Cross
Austria	The Military Merit Decoration
Bangladesh	Bir Sreshtho	15 December 1973	7
Brazil	Order of Military Merit (Brazil)	1934	820
Bulgaria	Order of Bravery	1 January 1880		Date established.
Canada	The Victoria Cross of Canada	2 February 1993	0	Date established. Replaced The Victoria Cross
China	Order of August First	12 June 2017	10
Colombia	Order of San Mateo
Denmark	The Valour Cross	18 November 2011^[2]	1
Estonia	The Cross of Liberty	24 February 1919	3,156	None has been awarded since 1925
Finland	Mannerheim Cross	22 July 1941	197	Last awarded 7 May 1945
France	The Legion of Honour	15 July 1804		Conferred in five classes for military or civilian merit.
Germany	The Cross of Honour for Valour	6 July 2009	28	Replaced the Iron Cross due to its association with the Nazi regime.
Greece	Medal for Gallantry Cross of Valour	1974 1913		The Medal for Gallantry formally replaced the Cross of Valour as the top military award in 1974, but it has never been conferred.
Hungary	Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary	1764-1918, 1938–1946, 2011-
India	Param Vir Chakra	3 November 1947	21
Israel	Medal of Valor	19 January 1948	40^[3]	Replacement for the Hero of Israel. None has been awarded since 1975.^[3]
Italy	Gold Medal of Military Valour	21 May 1793
Luxembourg	Military Medal	3 August 1945^[4]
Myanmar	Aung San Thiriya	1948	6
Netherlands	Military William Order	30 April 1815	5,875
New Zealand	The Victoria Cross for New Zealand	26 July 2007^[5]	1	Replaced The Victoria Cross.
North Korea	Soldier's Medal of Honour (first class)	July 1950		^[6]^[7]
Norway	The War Cross with Sword	28 November 1941	285	A new sword is awarded each time a person, who already has the War Cross, distinguishes him- or herself in battle.^[8]
Pakistan	Nishan-e-Haider (Left) Hilal-e-Kashmir (Right)	16 March 1957	11	On 30 November 1995, the Government of Pakistan initiated the gazette notification to declare its Hilal-e-Kashmir equivalent to Nishan-e-Haider. All awards have been made posthumously.
Poland	Order of Virtuti Militari	22 June 1792		Conferred in five classes. A wartime-only award.
Portugal	Order of the Tower and Sword	1459		The Order of the Tower and Sword, as awarded by the Portuguese government today, comes in six classes
Romania	Order of Michael the Brave	Instated 26 September 1916 Disbanded 1948 Reinstated 23 July 2003	2,184	None has been awarded since 1944.
Russia	Hero of the Russian Federation			Honorific title for service to the Russian state and nation, usually connected with a heroic feat of valor; precedes all other Russian military and civil orders and medals.
Russia	Order of St. George			Highest military decoration of the Russian Federation.
Spain	Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand	1 January 1812	336
Thailand	Order of Rama	22 July 1918		Date established. Conferred in six classes for military merit.
United Kingdom	The Victoria Cross	26 June 1857^[9]	1357^{[nb 1]} 1354^{[nb 2]}
United States	Medal of Honor	26 March 1863	3468^{[nb 1]}^[10] 3449^{[nb 2]}	Different types from each of the branches of the US military. In the image, from left to right: The Army, the Coast Guard/Navy/Marine Corps, and the Air Force.
Vietnam	The Military Exploit Order	15 May 1947		Individuals who have recorded outstanding and brave exploits in combat, combat service, training, force building, consolidation of the all-people defense and people's security, or have sacrificed their lives heroically, setting bright examples in the whole country.
Zimbabwe	The Gold Cross of Zimbabwe		3	Replaced the Grand Cross of Valour

Notes[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Total medals awarded.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Total recipients of the medal.

References[]

^ "Australian SAS soldier Mark Donaldson awarded Victoria Cross". The Australian. News Limited. 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
^ "Dronningen overrækker nyt Tapperhedskors til hjemvendt soldat". Forsvaret.dk. Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Shoval, Lilach. "'Heroes' from Independence War mostly gone, but not forgotten". israelhayom.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
^ "Actualités - Lëtzebuerger Arméi" (in French). Army.lu. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
^ "Willie Apiata receives his VC". The New Zealand Herald. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
^ Vreeland, Nena (1976). Area Handbook for North Korea. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 327.
^ Weiser, Martin (8 January 2016). "Chests Full of Brass: A DPRK Political History in Orders, Medals, Prizes, and Titles". Sino-NK. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Direktiv for bruk og bæring av dekorasjoner, ordener og medaljer i Forsvaret Archived 2013-09-25 at the Wayback Machine". Forsvaret.no. Retrieved 2013-08-16
^ Herold, Stephen. "The First Presentation of the Victoria Cross". www.antiquesatoz.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
^ "Medal of Honor Statistics". Retrieved 15 July 2013.

[awarded-10] Jump up to: ^a ^b Total medals awarded.

[recipients-11] Jump up to: ^a ^b Total recipients of the medal.

[TheAustralian20090116-1] "Australian SAS soldier Mark Donaldson awarded Victoria Cross". The Australian. News Limited. 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.

[2] "Dronningen overrækker nyt Tapperhedskors til hjemvendt soldat". Forsvaret.dk. Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2013-07-15.

[israelhayom-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Shoval, Lilach. "'Heroes' from Independence War mostly gone, but not forgotten". israelhayom.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.

[army.lu-4] "Actualités - Lëtzebuerger Arméi" (in French). Army.lu. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-31.

[VCreceived-5] "Willie Apiata receives his VC". The New Zealand Herald. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-03.

[6] Vreeland, Nena (1976). Area Handbook for North Korea. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 327.

[7] Weiser, Martin (8 January 2016). "Chests Full of Brass: A DPRK Political History in Orders, Medals, Prizes, and Titles". Sino-NK. Retrieved 14 December 2020.

[8] "Direktiv for bruk og bæring av dekorasjoner, ordener og medaljer i Forsvaret Archived 2013-09-25 at the Wayback Machine". Forsvaret.no. Retrieved 2013-08-16

[9] Herold, Stephen. "The First Presentation of the Victoria Cross". www.antiquesatoz.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.

[12] "Medal of Honor Statistics". Retrieved 15 July 2013.

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show v t Highest military awards for gallantry
List of highest military decorations
Current	Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross (Argentina) National Hero of Armenia (Armenia) Hero of Artsakh title (Artsakh) National Hero of Azerbaijan title (Azerbaijan) Bir Sreshtho (Bangladesh) Hero of Belarus title (Belarus) Order of Bravery (Bulgaria) Order of August First (China) Order of Duke Domagoj (Croatia) Valour Cross (Denmark) Cross of Liberty (Estonia) Mannerheim Cross (Finland) Légion d'honneur (France) Cross of Honour for Valour (Germany) Cross of Valour (Greece) Param Vir Chakra (India) Order of Fat'h (Iran) Military Medal for Gallantry (Ireland) Medal of Valor (Israel) Gold Medal of Military Valour (Italy) Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (Malaysia) Military William Order (Netherlands) War Cross (Norway) Nishan-e-Haider (Pakistan) Medal of Valor (Philippines) War Order Virtuti Militari (wartime) / Order Krzyża Wojskowego peacetime (Poland) Order of the Tower and Sword (Portugal) Order of Michael the Brave (Romania) Hero of the Russian Federation title (Russian Federation) Order of Karađorđe's Star (Serbia) Nkwe ya Gauta (South Africa) Laureate Cross of St. Ferdinand (Spain) Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (Sri Lanka) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword (Sweden) Order of Rama (Thailand) Order of Katonga (Uganda) Order of the Gold Star (Ukraine) Victoria Cross (United Kingdom Australia Canada New Zealand) Medal of Honor (United States)
Obsolete	Order of Saint Louis (Kingdom of France) Military Order of Maria Theresa (Austria-Hungary) Medal of Bravery (Kingdom of Hungary) Pour le Mérite (Kingdom of Prussia) Military Order of Max Joseph (Kingdom of Bavaria) Military Order of St. Henry (Kingdom of Saxony) Military Merit Order (Kingdom of Württemberg) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Nazi Germany) Order of the Golden Kite (Empire of Japan) Order of Lāčplēsis (Latvia) Grand Cross of Valour (Rhodesia) Laureate Plate of Madrid (Second Spanish Republic) Castle of Good Hope Decoration (South Africa) Vietnam Military Merit Medal (South Vietnam) Hero of the Soviet Union (Soviet Union) Order of the Karađorđe's Star with Swords (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) Order of Freedom (SFR Yugoslavia) Grass Crown (Ancient Rome)