The most expensive and desired military award for officers of the Red Army has always been and remains the Order of the Red Star. As an insignia of military battles and victories, this star first appeared in 1918 on the military uniform of the soldiers of the Moscow garrison. During the civil war, the five-pointed star was worn on the chest under the heart, but since 1943 the metal order was moved to the right side. This award was worn only on a festive officer's uniform. On everyday and field uniforms, the order looked like a small bar with ribbons 2.4 cm long. The ribbon had a burgundy hue with a pale gray stripe in the middle.
Officially and publicly, the Order of the Red Star was established by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in 1930 on April 6th. The authors of the award were the sculptor V. V. Golenetsky. and artist Kupriyanov V. K. She looked like a silver star, five rays of which were covered with ruby-red enamel. In the center of the star was a round silver plate depicting a Red Army soldier with a rifle. The shield was also engraved with "Workers of all countries, unite" and just below "USSR", and below it a symbolic hammer and sickle. All emblems, as well as the edges of the award, have been oxidized.
Order of the Red Star weighed about 34 g, shareof silver from the total weight was almost 28 g. The size of the star between its opposite peaks was about 5 cm.
On May 5, 1930, the first Statute of the Order was drawn up. According to this document, the order was awarded to military officers and rank and file of the Red Army, ships and military units, as well as their formations, enterprises, institutions, collectives and public organizations that rendered outstanding services in the defense of the USSR from the enemy, both during the war years and in peacetime.
The soldiers, who had such an important award for them, proudly bore the title of Knights of the Order of the Red Star. The first such gentleman in May 1930 was Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher, who at that time commanded the Special Far Eastern Army. He received his star for an excellent military operation on the Chinese Eastern Railway, which took place in the summer of 1929.
Among those awarded with the Order, one can often meet those who have two or even more awards. So, for example, General of the Army Gribkov A. I. and Admiral Amelko N. N. have three stars each, and four stars for services to the fatherland were received by Colonel-General of Aviation, Hero of the Soviet SSR Baidukov G. F. and twice Hero of the USSR Kokkinaki V. K. Major General of Aviation, twice Hero of the Union of Socialist Republics I. N. Stepanenko had five awards
The first team to receiveOrder of the Red Star, turned out to be a newspaper with the symbolic name "Red Star". She was presented with her tenth award in December 1933. Later, such magazines as Aviation and Cosmonautics, Military Knowledge, Marine Collection, Military Bulletin, Soviet Warrior were presented with the badge of honor.
In total, more than 3.8 million Soviet and foreign citizens have been awarded the Order of the Red Star throughout the entire existence of the award. In the last years of the "life" of the Soviet Union, the ruby star for feats and wounds on the battlefield began to be given to the soldiers of Afghanistan. And today this symbol of courage can be seen not only on the chest of an elderly veteran, but also on a young soldier who, in his years, has managed to experience fear, pain, despair and such a pleasant taste of victory.
