By decision of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee, September 16, 1918, a decoration, the Order of the Red Banner was instituted for award to the most distinguished, self-sacrificing, valiant and heroic warriors of the Red Army. The significance of this decoration must be clear to every soldier, worker and peasant, to every citizen of the Soviet Republic. This order has nothing in common with the orders of the old Tsarist army or of the bourgeois armies of other countries. The Order of the Red Banner confers no rights or privileges, other than one right – to the respect of all honourable citizens of Soviet Russia and of socialist fighters in other countries. The soldiers of the Red Army do not fight for the sake of decorations but in the name of the lofty task of defending the Soviet Socialist Republic. But there is among the working citizens of the Soviet Republic a profound inner need to express their care and love for the bravest and most selfless of our fighting men. An outward symbol of this, a mark of recognition, is constituted by the Order of the Red Banner, which is awarded in the name of the highest body of the Soviet Republic. The order bears the inscription: “Workers of all lands, unite!” This inscription reminds us, better than anything else, that the Order serves not to contrast individual heroes with the mass of fighters but, on the contrary, to recall to the working people of all countries the need for united and selfless struggle for the cause of socialism.
Last updated on: 27.12.2006