Cross of Valour (Canada)
Encyclopedia
The Cross of Valour is a decoration
State decoration
State decorations are orders, medals and other decorations granted by a state. International decorations are similar, but are not granted by a specific nation but rather an international organization....

 that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the second highest award (superseded only by the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross (Canada)
The Victoria Cross is a military decoration of Canada modelled on the original British Victoria Cross—instituted in 1856—in both intent and appearance, with several small changes...

), the highest honour available for Canadian civilians, and the highest of the three Canadian Bravery Decorations
Canadian Bravery Decorations
The Canadian Bravery Decorations are a group of Canadian medals awarded for bravery. They are part of the Canadian Honour System created in 1967. The awards themselves were established in 1972...

. Created in 1972, the medallion is presented to individuals, both Canadians and foreigners, living and deceased, who have performed acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril and grants recipients the ability to use the post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of...

 CV.

History

The Cross of Valour was conceived of as a replacement for the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

's Medal of Courage, which had never been awarded since its creation in 1967. On the advice
Advice (constitutional)
Advice, in constitutional law, is formal, usually binding, instruction given by one constitutional officer of state to another. Especially in parliamentary systems of government, Heads of state often act on the basis of advice issued by prime ministers or other government ministers...

 of her Cabinet
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...

 headed by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

, the Cross of Valour was initiated on 1  May  1972 by Queen Elizabeth II, and presented for the first time on 20 July of the same year. Prior to 1967, the equivalent medal that Canadians received was the George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...

, of which ten were awarded in Canada: eight military, one merchant navy, and one civilian.

The Cross of Valour became the centre of a controversy in 2007, when it was announced from the Chancellery of Honours at the Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

's residence, Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall is, since 1867, the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a 0.36 km2 estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of 170 rooms across 9,500 m2 , and 24 outbuildings around the...

, that deceased Cobourg, Ontario
Cobourg, Ontario
Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...

, police constable Chris Garrett would not be awarded the honour. Garett died on duty after an individual lured him with a false 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...

 call and then cut his throat; however, Garett, as he was dying, shot and disabled the assailant, thereby preventing other planned attacks. But, because Garett's nominator waited until the trial for the constable's murderer was concluded, the application arrived at Rideau Hall eight months past the stipulated two-year deadline. After a public outcry, the Governor General-in-Council
Queen-in-Council
The Queen-in-Council is, in each of the Commonwealth realms, the technical term of constitutional law that refers to the exercise of executive authority, denoting the monarch acting by and with the advice and consent of his or her privy council or executive council The Queen-in-Council (during...

 adjusted the rules of application for the Cross of Valour.

Design

The medal is a cross of four equal limbs rendered in gold, with the obverse enamelled in red and edged with gold, and bearing at the centre a gold maple leaf surrounded by a gold laurel wreath
Laurel wreath
A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel , an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head...

. On the reverse is the Royal Cypher
Royal Cypher
In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown. In the case where such a cypher is used by an emperor or empress, it is called...

 of the reigning Canadian sovereign and a crown above, on the upper arm, while the words VALOUR • VAILLANCE are etched below, extending along the upper edge of the two lateral arms of the cross. The recipient's name and the date of the incident for which they are being honoured are engraved underneath the motto. This medallion is worn on the left chest, on light crimson ribbon 38 millimetres (1.5 in) wide: for men, hung from a medal bar, and for women, on a ribbon bow pinned to the left chest; a miniature cross may be worn on the ribbon bar in undress. Should an individual already possessing a Cross of Valour be awarded the medal again for subsequent valourous acts, he or she is granted a gold maple leaf to be carried on the same ring from which the original cross is hung; no bars have been issued to date.

Eligibility

Anyone may nominate or be nominated for receipt of the Cross of Valour; the incident need not take place in Canada, but Canadian people and/or interests must be involved. The decoration may be awarded posthumously, though nominations must be made no later than two years following either the act of bravery itself or the conclusion of any coroner's or court's inquest into the events for which the person was nominated.

Recipients

  1. Vaino Olavi Partanen
    Vaino Olavi Partanen
    Chief Warrant Officer Vaino Olavi Partanen was a member of the Canadian Forces and a recipient of the Cross of Valour for his actions during an engine room explosion aboard the HMCS Kootenay. The Cross of Valour is Canada's highest decoration for bravery....

     , posthumously awarded 20 July 1972
  2. Lewis John Stringer , posthumously awarded 20 July 1972
  3. Mary Dohey
    Mary Dohey
    Mary Dohey, CV was a Canadian flight attendant who was awarded the Cross of Valour, Canada's highest award for bravery, for her conduct during the hijacking of a commercial DC-8 aircraft in 1971....

     , awarded 1 December 1975
  4. Kenneth Wilfrid Bishop
    Kenneth Wilfrid Bishop
    Kenneth Wilfrid Bishop is a recipient of the Cross of Valour, Canada's highest civilian award for bravery.His citation reads:On March 30, 1974, when a fuel tanker and freight truck collided and burst into flames at Vegreville, Alberta, Kenneth Bishop withstood severe burns to his body to save the...

     , awarded 5 April 1976
  5. Jean Swedberg , posthumously awarded 17 May 1976
  6. Thomas Hynes , posthumously awarded 11 September 1978
  7. François Emeric Gaston Langelier , awarded 2 April 1979
  8. Amédéo Garrammone
    Amédéo Garrammone
    Private Amédéo Garrammone, a military police officer of CFB Halifax, received the Cross of Valour, Canada's highest award for bravery, for risking his life and being injured coming to the rescue of a man who was being attacked.-References:...

     , awarded 28 January 1980
  9. Lester Robert Fudge , awarded 6 April 1981
  10. Harold Gilbert Miller , awarded 6 April 1981
  11. Martin Sceviour , awarded 6 April 1981
  12. Anna Ruth Lang
    Anna Ruth Lang
    Anna Ruth Lang is a recipient of the Canadian Cross of Valour.On the ninth of September 1980 Anna Lang rescued two car passengers. At the entry of the Hammond River bridge a fuel tanker hit Mrs. Lang's car and rammed it through and into the river. At that point the tanker fell into the river and...

     , awarded 7 June 1982
  13. Robert Gordon Teather
    Robert Gordon Teather
    Robert Gordon Teather was a 28-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who was awarded the Cross of Valour, Canada's highest award for bravery, for a rescue he performed in 1981....

     , awarded 25 April 1983
  14. René Marc Jalbert
    René Marc Jalbert
    René Marc Jalbert, C.V., C.D. was a Canadian soldier and sergeant-at-arms of the National Assembly of Quebec, known for his role in ending Denis Lortie's killing spree in the Parliament Building on May 8, 1984....

     , awarded 16 July 1984
  15. David Gordon Cheverie
    David Gordon Cheverie
    David Gordon Cheverie CV, SC of the Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Police Department, is a Canadian recipient of the Cross of Valour, the highest Canadian award for bravery...

     , awarded 13 June 1988
  16. John Wendell MacLean , posthumously awarded 30 October 1992
  17. Douglas Fader
    Douglas Fader
    Douglas Fader CV is one of only 20 recipients of the Cross of Valour, awarded for acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril and the highest award for bravery which can be presented to a Canadian civilian.This is his citation...

     , awarded 16 June 1994
  18. Keith Paul Mitchell
    Keith Paul Mitchell
    Sergeant Keith Paul Mitchell, CV, CD, a Search and Rescue technician with 413 Search and Rescue Squadron in the Canadian Forces, received the Cross of Valour, the highest Canadian award for acts of courage in circumstances of extreme peril, on September 18, 1998, along with Master Corporal Bryan...

     , awarded 11 February 1998
  19. Bryan Keith Pierce
    Bryan Keith Pierce
    Master Corporal Bryan Keith Pierce, CV, MSC, CD, a technician of the Canadian Forces search-and-rescue, received the Cross of Valour, the highest Canadian award for acts of courage in circumstances of extreme peril, on September 18, 1998, along with Sergeant Keith Paul Mitchell.On November 12,...

     , awarded 11 February 1998
  20. Leslie Arthur Palmer , awarded 4 May 2006

See also

  • Canadian order of precedence (decorations and medals)
    Canadian order of precedence (Decorations and Medals)
    The following is the Canadian order of precedence for decorations and medals. Where applicable, post-nominal letters are indicated.-Awards of valour:-National orders:-Provincial orders:-National decorations:-National medals:...

  • State decoration
    State decoration
    State decorations are orders, medals and other decorations granted by a state. International decorations are similar, but are not granted by a specific nation but rather an international organization....

  • Cross of Valour (Australia)
    Cross of Valour (Australia)
    The Cross of Valour is Australia's highest civilian award for bravery. It was established in 1975 to replace the British George Cross, previously awarded to Australians....

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