Military orders and medals of the Soviet Union. Order of the Red Banner
In the 1918 year, a few days before the celebration of the first anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the first Soviet award, the Order of the Red Banner, was approved in the country. The Order existed in two versions: Labor and Fighting Red Banner. First, in September 1918, the statute of the order was approved, and a month later the order itself appeared.
It is known that, having come to power in 1917, the Bolsheviks canceled all insignia and awards that existed in Tsarist Russia. Initially, all awards that marked any merit to the Fatherland were replaced with personalized gifts: weapon, watches, cigarette cases. But the longer the civil war lasted, the more clearly appeared the need for the appearance of these awards, which would confirm the merits of the new country and the new government.
On the initiative of Ya. M. Sverdlov, in September 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee created a special commission, which was to prepare draft award insignia for commanders and soldiers of the Red Army. This commission was headed by Abel Safronovich Yenukidze, and the work on the sketch of the first Soviet award was entrusted to the artist V.I. Denisov and his son V.V. Denisov. Within a few days of work, the sketches of the first Soviet order were ready and proposed for consideration by the commission. Of the several options proposed, the one in which the image of the order included all the elements characteristic of the young Soviet government was chosen. This is a red star, a red flag unfolded, a hammer and sickle, a bayonet, a plow, which were symbols of the unity of soldiers, workers and peasants. In October, the design sketch of the new award was approved by the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
The statute for the order was very short and contained a bit of specificity regarding the actions for which a person could be honored with this award. This was due to the fact that the order at that time was the only one of its kind, as well as the only reward in principle in the system of the young Soviet state. This was specifically mentioned in a special explanation. The Order of the Red Banner was the only reward that could be obtained for the combat merits of the soldiers of the Red Army. The Order was awarded for the special courage, bravery and dedication that were shown in the protection of the young socialist state. At the same time, not only individuals but also whole military units and public organizations could be awarded the Order. The officers of the Order were called “The Red Banner”, and military units - “The Red Banner”. In the future, the statute of the order was edited several times and was supplemented.
Each of the first orders of the Red Banner relied on a special diploma, which said about whom, for what merits and when the award was presented. This letter was a necessary attribute, which certified the right of the awarded to wear the order. According to the original statute, only the commanders and commissars of the Red Army had the right to be awarded the order, fleetas well as volunteer units. In the future, the list of persons who could receive this award has been expanded.
The Order of the Red Banner was made of silver in the form of a gilded laurel wreath, which served as its foundation. On the lower part of the laurel wreath was placed a ribbon with the inscription "USSR" in gold letters. The top of the order closes the unfolded red flag, the inscription “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” Is placed on it. Just below the center of the sign, the flag pole crosses the torch shaft. Moreover, their lower ends protrude beyond the laurel wreath. The burning torch on the sign was supposed to symbolize the immortality of the heroes of the revolution. In the center of the sign on a white background are crossed the bayonet, the plow and the hammer, which the inverted red star overlaps. In the center of this star is a golden laurel wreath, which borders the white field, on which there are gilded sickle and hammer.
Directly under the middle of the ribbon on the repeated orders of the Red Banner on a small white enamel shield were placed the numbers "2", "3", "4", etc., which indicated the number of awards given by the order. The ends of the five-pointed star, the banner and ribbon were covered with ruby-red enamel, the images of the plow and hammer were oxidized, the rest of the inscriptions and images on the order were gilded.
The Order is made of silver, its content in the award is 22,719 ± 1,389 (on 18 September 1975 of the year). The total weight of the Order of the Red Banner is 25,134 ± 1,8 g. Its height is 41 mm, width is 36,3 mm. With the aid of the ear and the ring, the reward is connected to the pentagonal pad, which is covered with silk moiré tape having a width of 24 mm. In the center of the ribbon there is a longitudinal white stripe 8 mm wide, closer to the edges are two white strips 7 mm wide each, and along the edges of the pad there are two white strips 1 mm thick. The Order of the Red Banner should be worn on the left side of the chest.
The first cavalier of the new Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR (the original name, then the inscription was replaced with the USSR) was the former Sormovsky worker Blucher Vasily Konstantinovich, who became chairman of the Chelyabinsk Revolutionary Committee in 1918. He managed to unite under his command several armed detachments and make at the head of these detachments a legendary campaign in the Urals, which was accompanied by fierce battles with the White Guards. The 10-thousandth partisan army led by Blucher fought through the enemy’s rear and overcame 40 km in 1500 days. After that, the partisans were able to connect with the regular units of the Red Army. For the accomplishment of this feat 30 September 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee presented Blucher to the award - the Order of the Red Banner with the number 1. Subsequently, during the years of civil war, Vasily Blucher was presented to this award three times more, and he received his fifth and last order for his work in China, where he played the role of military adviser to the revolutionary government. It is worth noting that all these awards did not save the future Soviet marshal from repression and death.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Order of the Red Banner was awarded 305035 times. Many Soviet soldiers in the battles with the fascist invaders deserved several of these orders. In this case, the award was among the "elite". Usually, it was represented by commanders of various formations, battalions, regiments, as well as pilots for successfully conducting bombings / ground attack, downed enemy planes. The younger commanders of the Red Army, and even more so the sergeant and privates, were very rarely honored with this award.
There were also unique cases. For example, a young partisan, a native of Kerch, Volodya Dubinin, received this award in 13 years (posthumously), and 14-year-old sailor Igor Pakhomov immediately had the 2 (!) Order of the Red Banner. Another 12-year-old Kiev schoolboy received an order for keeping 2 regimental banners of the Red Army units during the occupation of the city. Among those who were awarded this order were foreign nationals, for example, Pierre Pouyad, commander of the famous Normandie-Niemen Air Regiment, Pierre Puyad, the pilot of the same regiment, Viscount Rolland de la Puap, and many others.
In total, from the moment the order was established until 1991, more than 580 thousand of these awards were issued, and a number of persons became five-fold, six-fold, and even seven-fold holders of this order. The first holder of the order with the number "7" on the front side in 1967 was M. I. Burtsev - Major General aviation. Later, one of the seven-time owners of this order was the famous Soviet pilot-ace, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal I.N. Kozhedub. Currently, this government award has been abolished along with the Red Banners of the units and formations of the Armed Forces. In this case, the most famous of them are still called the Red Banner.
Information sources:
http://ordenrf.ru/su/orden-krasnoe-znamya-rsfsr.php
http://milday.ru/ussr/ussr-uniform-award/66-orden-boevogo-krasnogo-znameni.html
http://medalww.ru/nagrady-sssr/ordena-sssr/orden-krasnogo-znameni
http://www.rusorden.ru/?nr=su&nt=o4
It is known that, having come to power in 1917, the Bolsheviks canceled all insignia and awards that existed in Tsarist Russia. Initially, all awards that marked any merit to the Fatherland were replaced with personalized gifts: weapon, watches, cigarette cases. But the longer the civil war lasted, the more clearly appeared the need for the appearance of these awards, which would confirm the merits of the new country and the new government.
On the initiative of Ya. M. Sverdlov, in September 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee created a special commission, which was to prepare draft award insignia for commanders and soldiers of the Red Army. This commission was headed by Abel Safronovich Yenukidze, and the work on the sketch of the first Soviet award was entrusted to the artist V.I. Denisov and his son V.V. Denisov. Within a few days of work, the sketches of the first Soviet order were ready and proposed for consideration by the commission. Of the several options proposed, the one in which the image of the order included all the elements characteristic of the young Soviet government was chosen. This is a red star, a red flag unfolded, a hammer and sickle, a bayonet, a plow, which were symbols of the unity of soldiers, workers and peasants. In October, the design sketch of the new award was approved by the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
The statute for the order was very short and contained a bit of specificity regarding the actions for which a person could be honored with this award. This was due to the fact that the order at that time was the only one of its kind, as well as the only reward in principle in the system of the young Soviet state. This was specifically mentioned in a special explanation. The Order of the Red Banner was the only reward that could be obtained for the combat merits of the soldiers of the Red Army. The Order was awarded for the special courage, bravery and dedication that were shown in the protection of the young socialist state. At the same time, not only individuals but also whole military units and public organizations could be awarded the Order. The officers of the Order were called “The Red Banner”, and military units - “The Red Banner”. In the future, the statute of the order was edited several times and was supplemented.
Each of the first orders of the Red Banner relied on a special diploma, which said about whom, for what merits and when the award was presented. This letter was a necessary attribute, which certified the right of the awarded to wear the order. According to the original statute, only the commanders and commissars of the Red Army had the right to be awarded the order, fleetas well as volunteer units. In the future, the list of persons who could receive this award has been expanded.
The Order of the Red Banner was made of silver in the form of a gilded laurel wreath, which served as its foundation. On the lower part of the laurel wreath was placed a ribbon with the inscription "USSR" in gold letters. The top of the order closes the unfolded red flag, the inscription “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” Is placed on it. Just below the center of the sign, the flag pole crosses the torch shaft. Moreover, their lower ends protrude beyond the laurel wreath. The burning torch on the sign was supposed to symbolize the immortality of the heroes of the revolution. In the center of the sign on a white background are crossed the bayonet, the plow and the hammer, which the inverted red star overlaps. In the center of this star is a golden laurel wreath, which borders the white field, on which there are gilded sickle and hammer.
Directly under the middle of the ribbon on the repeated orders of the Red Banner on a small white enamel shield were placed the numbers "2", "3", "4", etc., which indicated the number of awards given by the order. The ends of the five-pointed star, the banner and ribbon were covered with ruby-red enamel, the images of the plow and hammer were oxidized, the rest of the inscriptions and images on the order were gilded.
The Order is made of silver, its content in the award is 22,719 ± 1,389 (on 18 September 1975 of the year). The total weight of the Order of the Red Banner is 25,134 ± 1,8 g. Its height is 41 mm, width is 36,3 mm. With the aid of the ear and the ring, the reward is connected to the pentagonal pad, which is covered with silk moiré tape having a width of 24 mm. In the center of the ribbon there is a longitudinal white stripe 8 mm wide, closer to the edges are two white strips 7 mm wide each, and along the edges of the pad there are two white strips 1 mm thick. The Order of the Red Banner should be worn on the left side of the chest.
The first cavalier of the new Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR (the original name, then the inscription was replaced with the USSR) was the former Sormovsky worker Blucher Vasily Konstantinovich, who became chairman of the Chelyabinsk Revolutionary Committee in 1918. He managed to unite under his command several armed detachments and make at the head of these detachments a legendary campaign in the Urals, which was accompanied by fierce battles with the White Guards. The 10-thousandth partisan army led by Blucher fought through the enemy’s rear and overcame 40 km in 1500 days. After that, the partisans were able to connect with the regular units of the Red Army. For the accomplishment of this feat 30 September 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee presented Blucher to the award - the Order of the Red Banner with the number 1. Subsequently, during the years of civil war, Vasily Blucher was presented to this award three times more, and he received his fifth and last order for his work in China, where he played the role of military adviser to the revolutionary government. It is worth noting that all these awards did not save the future Soviet marshal from repression and death.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Order of the Red Banner was awarded 305035 times. Many Soviet soldiers in the battles with the fascist invaders deserved several of these orders. In this case, the award was among the "elite". Usually, it was represented by commanders of various formations, battalions, regiments, as well as pilots for successfully conducting bombings / ground attack, downed enemy planes. The younger commanders of the Red Army, and even more so the sergeant and privates, were very rarely honored with this award.
Marshal Blucher V. K. Was the first in the country holder of five orders of the Red Banner (1989-1938)
There were also unique cases. For example, a young partisan, a native of Kerch, Volodya Dubinin, received this award in 13 years (posthumously), and 14-year-old sailor Igor Pakhomov immediately had the 2 (!) Order of the Red Banner. Another 12-year-old Kiev schoolboy received an order for keeping 2 regimental banners of the Red Army units during the occupation of the city. Among those who were awarded this order were foreign nationals, for example, Pierre Pouyad, commander of the famous Normandie-Niemen Air Regiment, Pierre Puyad, the pilot of the same regiment, Viscount Rolland de la Puap, and many others.
In total, from the moment the order was established until 1991, more than 580 thousand of these awards were issued, and a number of persons became five-fold, six-fold, and even seven-fold holders of this order. The first holder of the order with the number "7" on the front side in 1967 was M. I. Burtsev - Major General aviation. Later, one of the seven-time owners of this order was the famous Soviet pilot-ace, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal I.N. Kozhedub. Currently, this government award has been abolished along with the Red Banners of the units and formations of the Armed Forces. In this case, the most famous of them are still called the Red Banner.
Information sources:
http://ordenrf.ru/su/orden-krasnoe-znamya-rsfsr.php
http://milday.ru/ussr/ussr-uniform-award/66-orden-boevogo-krasnogo-znameni.html
http://medalww.ru/nagrady-sssr/ordena-sssr/orden-krasnogo-znameni
http://www.rusorden.ru/?nr=su&nt=o4
Information