Order of Victory

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The Order of Victory (Russian: Орден Победы) was the highest military decoration in the Soviet Union, and one of the rarest orders in the world. The order was awarded for a "successful operation within the framework of one or several fronts resulting in a radical change of the situation in favor of the Red Army." In its history, it has been awarded twenty times to thirteen leaders (plus five foreign leaders), with one revocation.

1 History
2 Construction details
3 Ribbon
4 Recipients
5 External links

[edit] History

The order was proposed by Colonel N. S. Neyelov, who was serving at the Soviet Army (Rear) headquarters around June of 1943. The original name that Colonel Neyelov suggested was Order for Faithfulness to the Homeland, however, it was given its present name around October. The order was officially adopted on November 8, 1943. The first awarding of the order was on April 10, 1944 and it was presented to Aleksandr Vasilevsky and Georgy Zhukov. Every order was presented during World War II, except for Leonid Brezhnev's, which was awarded to him in 1978. However, it was stripped in 1989, since the criteria for the order was not met when it was given to Brezhnev (who had died several years before this action was taken). The order was also bestowed to top commanders of the Allied forces. In total, the order was presented twenty times to sixteen people (including Brezhnev's).

[edit] Construction details

The Order is made out of platinum, which is shaped into a pentangle platinum star measuring 72 mm. The star is studded with 174 diamonds weighing a total of 16 carats (3.2 g), while the arms of the star are made out of synthetic rubies. In the center of the star is a silver medallion inlayed with blue enamel, with the Moscow Kremlin wall, Lenin's Mausoleum and the Spasskaya tower in gold surrounded by bands of wheat also colored in gold. The words "USSR" (СССР) appear on the top of the medallion, while the words "Victory" (Победа) are at the bottom of the medallion. The main designer of the order is unclear, however, the current design was chosen by Joseph Stalin on October 20, 1943. Alone of all the Soviet orders, each was made in a jeweler's workshop rather than at a mint.

[edit] Ribbon

The ribbons of various Soviet orders have been combined to create the Order ribbon. The following featured ribbons are (seen from either left to right or right to left):

Order of Glory (Орден Славы). Orange with black center stripe
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Орден Богдана Хмельницкого). Light blue
Order of Alexander Nevsky (Орден Александра Невского). Dark red
Order of Kutuzov (Орден Кутузова). Dark blue
Order of Suvorov (Орден Суворова). Green
Order of Lenin (Орден Ленина). Red (center section)

In between each ribbon, a .05 mm white section is present to separate the individual awards. The Order of Lenin is the longest ribbon section, being 13 mm wide. The ribbon length is one of the longest presented by the Soviet Government (twice the length of a normal ribbon), however, the order was mostly seen worn in full (on a parade uniform). On a field uniform the ribbon is placed at the top, it is the therefore the first ribbon placed on the bar.