Medals of the Ussr

awarded by the state for special service (along with orders and honorary titles of the USSR). According to the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 (art. 49, para. H). The right to establish the medals of the USSR and award them belongs to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. At the same time each medal is established, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approves the regulations concerning it and its description. The regulations indicate for what service the medal is to be awarded and how it is to be worn. The general procedure for awarding the medals of the USSR is also regulated by the decree, issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on Feb. 11, 1958, On the Procedure for Awarding the Orders and Medals of the USSR (Vedomosti Ver khovnogo Soveta SSSR, 1958, no. 4, art. 87).

As of Jan. 1, 1976, 49 medals had been established in the USSR. A list in the order in which the medals are to be worn follows (the date the medal was established is given in parentheses).

(1) The Gold Star—the distinguished service badge of a Hero of the Soviet Union

(2) The Hammer and Sickle—the distinguished service badge of a Hero of Socialist Labor

(3) For Courage (Oct. 17, 1938)

(4) The Ushakov Medal (Mar. 3, 1944)

(5) For Combat Service (Oct. 17, 1938)

(6) For Distinguished Service in Guarding the State Border of the USSR (July 13, 1950)

(7) For Distinguished Service in Maintaining Public Order (Nov. 1, 1950)

(8) The Nakhimov Medal (Mar. 3, 1944)

(9) Twenty Years of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (Jan. 24, 1938)

(10) For Valor in Labor (Dec. 27, 1938)

(11) For Distinguished Service in Labor (Dec. 27, 1938)

(12) For Valiant Labor (For Military Valor): In Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Il’ich Lenin (Nov. 5, 1969)

(13) For Distinguished Military Service (Oct. 28, 1974)

(14) For Courage in Fire Fighting (Oct. 31, 1957)

(15) For Rescuing Drowning Persons (Feb. 16, 1957);

(16) To a Partisan of the Patriotic War First and Second Class (Feb. 2, 1943)

(17) For the Defense of Leningrad (Dec. 22, 1942)

(18) For the Defense of Moscow (May 1, 1944)

(19) For the Defense of Odessa (Dec. 22, 1942)

(20) For the Defense of Sevastopol’ (Dec. 22, 1942)

(21) For the Defense of Stalingrad (Dec. 22, 1942)

(22) For the Defense of Kiev (June 21, 1961)

(23) For the Defense of the Caucasus (May 1, 1944)

(24) For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic Region (Dec. 5, 1944)

(25) For Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 (May 9, 1965)

(26) Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 (May 7, 1965)

(27) Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 (Apr. 25, 1975)

(28) For Victory Over Japan (Sept. 30, 1945)

(29) For the Taking of Budapest (June 9, 1945)

(30) For the Taking of K#x00F6;nigsberg (June 9, 1945)

(31) For the Taking of Vienna (June 9, 1945)

(32) For the Taking of Berlin (June 9, 1945)

(33) For the Liberation of Belgrade (June 9, 1945)

(34) For the Liberation of Warsaw (June 9, 1945)

(35) For the Liberation of Prague (June 9, 1945)

(36) For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 (June 6, 1945)

(37) Veteran of Labor (Jan. 18, 1974)

(38) For the Reestablishment of the Ferrous-Metallurgical Enterprises of the South (May 18, 1948)

(39) For the Reconstruction of the Coal Mines of the Donbas (Sept. 10, 1947)

(40) For the Development of the Virgin Lands (Oct. 20, 1956)

(41) For the Construction of the Baikal and Amur Main Line (Oct. 8, 1976)

(42) In Memory of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow (Sept. 20, 1947)

(43) In Memory of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad (May 16, 1957)

(44) Thirty Years of the Soviet Army and Navy (Feb. 22, 1948)

(45) Forty Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR (Dec. 18, 1957)

(46) Fifty Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR (Dec. 26, 1967)

(47) Fifty Years of the Soviet Militia (Nov. 20, 1967)

(48) The Medal of Motherhood First and Second Class (July 8, 1944)

(49) Veteran of the USSR Armed Forces (May 20, 1976)

By authorization of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and on its behalf the awarding of certain medals of the USSR is carried out by the presidia of the supreme Soviets of Union and autonomous republics and the executive committees of krai, oblast, and city Soviets of working people’s deputies; the medal For Distinguished Service in Guarding the State Border of the USSR is awarded by the chairman of the Committee for State Security of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. As a rule, the awarding of medals to recipients is carried out on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR by the executive committees of city and raion Soviets of working people’s deputies.

Medals are fastened to clothing by a special five-pointed ribbon bar holder, covered with a silk moiré ribbon (its color is established by the regulations governing the particular medal). The Gold Star and the golden Hammer and Sickle medals are attached by rectangular ribbon bar holders that are 19.5 × 15 mm in size and are covered with red silk moiré ribbon. The Medal of Motherhood is fastened by a metallic ribbon bar holder covered with white enamel in the form of a bow, in the middle of which is a gilded disk decorated with patterning.

Medals are worn on the left side of the chest after orders. The Gold Star and the golden Hammer and Sickle medals are worn above orders and other medals. The Medal of Motherhood First and Second Class is worn to the left of orders and other medals or below them. In place of a medal of the USSR, recipients may wear a ribbon bearing the colors of the medal.