King Haakon VII's Freedom Cross was established on 18 May 1945. The medal is awarded to Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 or foreign military or civilian personnel for outstanding achievement during war. It is ranked fifth in the order of precedence in the Norwegian honours system.

Description

The medal is in the shape of a Maltese cross

Maltese cross

The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...

. In the middle of the cross on the adverse side is a circular red field with the monogram of King Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...

 over the letter V for victory in gilded silver. On the reverse side the following is engraved: "Alt for Norge 7 juni 1945" (All for Norway 7 June 1945), the seventh of June being the day the King came back to Norway after his five year forced exile during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The medal is hung from a blue ribbon with a narrow white stripe along both edges.