The Pro Patria Medal is a civil

state decoration A state decoration is an object, such as a medal or the insignia of an Order (distinction), order, that is awarded by a sovereign state to honor the recipient. The term includes civil awards and decorations, as well as military awards and decorat ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Established in 2011, it is awarded by the Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression.

Criteria

The Pro Patria Medal is awarded by the Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression based upon an application with documentation from veteran and victim of oppression groups. Recommendations may also be made by departments of the Polish Government or Polish diplomatic missions and

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

s. The medal is awarded to mark special merit in strengthening and treasuring the memory of the Polish people's fight for the independence of the Polish Republic during and following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Description

The medal is made of silver metal, 36 mm in diameter. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

depicts a crowned

Polish Eagle The coat of arms of Poland is the Coat of arms, heraldic symbol representing Poland. The current version was adopted in 1990. It is a white, crowned Eagle (heraldry), eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background. In Poland, the coat ...

sitting atop a

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

crossed with a

war scythe A war scythe or military scythe is a form of polearm with a curving single-edged blade with the cutting edge on the concave side of the blade. Its blade bears a superficial resemblance to that of an agricultural scythe from which it is likely ...

. The reverse bears a

cross pattee A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two intersecting lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a saltire in ...

above the three-line inscription ''PRO PATRIA 1768-1989'', with a crossed laurel and oak spray below. The date 1768 represents the year of the

Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation (; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (''szlachta'') formed at the fortress of Bar, Ukraine, Bar in Podolia (now Ukraine), in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian C ...

, the first rebellion to restore an independent Poland. Around the edge is the inscription ''URZAD DO SPRAW KOMBATANTOW I OSOB REPRESJONOWANYCH'' (Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression). The medal hangs from a ring suspension, attached to a 38 mm crimson ribbon with a dark blue central stripe bordered by narrow white stripes. At the edges are narrow black stripes.

Notable recipients

Andrzej Papierz Andrzej Papierz (born 21 November 1966, in Frampol) is a Polish journalist and diplomat. He has served as the Ambassador of Poland to Montenegro (2023–2024) and Bulgaria (2007–2010), the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

Piotr Paweł Morta Piotr Paweł Morta (born 19 June 1959 in Wieluń) is a Polish political activist, dissident, economist, co-inventor, activist in underground "Solidarity", Krajowy Mistrz Racjonalizacji 1983 (Polish master of rationalization in 1983), and vice-chai ...

Zbigniew Ścibor-Rylski Zbigniew Dionizy Ścibor-Rylski (10 March 1917 – 3 August 2018) was a Polish brigadier general and aviator who was a participant of the Warsaw Uprising during World War II. As a Polish Air Force officer, he fought alongside the Polish resistanc ...

Anna Stupnicka-Bando use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

References

{{reflist Civil awards and decorations of Poland Awards established in 2011