For Courage and Bravery () is an honorary award established by the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

to recognize distinguished combat performance, courage, bravery and heroism of units of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; , ; /NHU ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the dire ...

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State Special Communications Service of Ukraine The State Special Communications Service of Ukraine (Also known as the SSSCIP, ), also known as ''Derzhspetszv'yazku'' (), is a specialized executive authority of which the key functions include the provision of secure government communications, ...

, State Special Transport Service of Ukraine, during the protection of state sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of Ukraine, while conducting combat operations and performing special tasks.

History

At meeting held at the

Ukrainian Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine () is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Defence. The President of Ukraine is the Supreme Com ...

on August 18, 2015, a proposal was made to develop a presidential award to be presented to the units that distinguished themselves in the anti-terrorist operation in the

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. It was decided that this award would take the form of an honorary ribbon to be attached to the staff of the unit's battle flag. On the same day, the Minister of Defense, Colonel-General

Stepan Poltorak Stepan Tymofiyovych Poltorak () is a Ukrainian general who served as the Minister of Defence of Ukraine from 14 October 2014 until 29 August 2019. Previously he was the commander of the Internal Troops of Ukraine and National Guard of Ukraine.

, signed a letter addressed to the President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

with a request to consider and sign the draft Decree of the President of Ukraine "On the award of the President of Ukraine – Ribbon to the Battle Flag "For Courage and Bravery". This decree was to have approved the regulations on the award and its design. Without waiting for the signing of the decree, the Ministry of Defense decided to order the production of the ribbons. They were ready on August 21 and attached to the battle flags of the 14 units awarded them so they could be presented by President Poroshenko at the March of Independence held in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

on August 24, 2015. On November 19, 2015, the draft decree "On the award of the President of Ukraine – Ribbon to the Battle Flag "For Courage and Bravery" was considered by the State Awards and Heraldry Commission. At the time Ukrainian law did not provide for collective awards. Because of this the commission decided to propose to the Ministry of Defense "to work out the issue of the legal status of installing the Ribbon to the Battle Flag 'For Courage and Bravery' as a non-state award."24-ту річницю Незалежності Україна відзначила урочистим Маршем
// Офіційне інтернет-представництво Президента України, 24 серпня 2015
архів
на archive.org)
// Микола Чмир. Надруковано: Знак. — 2016. — Ч. 68. — С. 11. // Сайт Ukrainian Military Pages www.ukrmilitary.com By the time of

Russia's invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

on February 24, 2022 the legal barriers to Ukrainian state awards being presented to collective entities had been removed. On May 5, 2022, the President of Ukraine,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

, issued a decree establishing the honorary award "For Courage and Bravery." The award was established to recognize "the combat feats of personnel of military units of the

and other military formations, courage and heroism shown by servicemen in the struggle for the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, honoring their high fighting spirit and will to victory, as well as for the purpose of development of the traditions of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

and its sister service branches of the Armed Forces."

Description

The honorary award "For Courage and Bravery" is awarded by the President of Ukraine at the request of the

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine () is the professional head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The position was created by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 March 2020, before which the Chief of the General Staff was the c ...

. In the event that a military unit is awarded the "For Courage and Bravery" honor, a double-sided ribbon of green color (the 2015 version had a blue ribbon) is attached to the

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

of the pole of the regimental battle colour of the corresponding military unit, trimmed along the perimeter with a golden edging. On one end of the ribbon, on both sides, the inscription "" ('') and the image of the Emblem of the Princely State of Volodymyr the Great in gold embroidery. The other end of the ribbon is decorated on both sides with a floral ornament and an image of the Sign of the President of Ukraine. The ends of the ribbon are decorated with gold fringe. The ribbon size is 250 x 12 cm. It is tied with a 30 cm bow with two horizontal rays and fastened with a blue-yellow rosette with a diameter of 10 cm. The ribbon is an integral part of the unit's Battle Colour. In the case of a military unit awarded the honorary award "For Courage and Bravery", that ribbon is placed on top of the blue ribbon with the inscription of the military unit's honorary title. Servicemen of military units awarded the "For Courage and Bravery" ribbon can wear signs indicating their affiliation to the respective military units. Descriptions and drawings of such signs, and the order of their wearing are to be established by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Awards

Award of the President of Ukraine — Battle Colour Ribbon "For Courage and Bravery"

Honorary Award "For Courage and Bravery"

Notes