Being present at various parades and celebrations of one or another event, very often you can meet people with awards on their chests. How many people know on which side they wear orders and medals? How to place the insignia and what should be guided by this? That is what became the topic of today's article.
Let's try to figure out on which side of the chest are the medals, orders, various badges and order straps worn? Is there any pattern in this, or does it all depend on the desire of the recipient?
How to wear medals and orders
A medal is a sign of respect and recognition of the merits of a person to the state or people. Of course, the rewarding is a whole event in a person’s life, but the festive euphoria remains behind, and the logical question arises: “On which side are the medals worn, can they be worn daily or should this be done only in special cases?” It turns out that there is a whole set of rules, such a kind of "medal" etiquette.
First of all, any awards do not need to be worn daily - this is indecent. It is worth putting on insignia only in especially solemn occasions - at holidays, parades, special events on the occasion of this or that event.
And in order not to be mistaken, on which side of the jacket the medals are worn, and where the orders are, one must adhere to the following rule: medals are hung on the left and orders are attached on the right. However, this is not always the case. A separate statute is developed for each particular order, and a special provision for an honorary title or medal. These documents spell out the very definition of merit (for which a reward is given), and also determine the procedure for rewarding, wearing, and so on. There are many nuances of wearing rewards; some mount higher or lower in relation to the rest, others are located to the right or left of their "brothers." This set of rules is so large that it is not possible to list all the items in one article.
Wearing rules
As far back as 1943, by Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, it was indicated on which side the medals, orders and other insignia are worn.
According to this document, orders in the shape of a star are mounted on special pins on the right side of the tunic or jacket. Those that have the shape of a circle or oval are on the left on special pentagonal blocks, which are covered with a ribbon of the corresponding color. Moreover, each order or medal corresponds to a strictly defined ribbon, by the color of which you can recognize which award is assigned to a person, even if the latter is absent.
Order planks and pads
On the chest of many veterans you can see whole "iconostases" of such ribbons - they are called the order straps. How to place them correctly? You need to be guided by the basic rule: on which side the orders and medals are worn, the order straps with ribbons of the corresponding color are also fastened there.
The same Decree of 07/19/1943 established the rules for wearing such ribbons without the medals and orders themselves. For this, special convex plates are used, which on the reverse side have a special device, with which they can be attached to clothes. Such designs (without medals) were specially designed for everyday wear. As already mentioned above, on which side the medals are worn, the strap (block) is also attached there. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. There are such medals and orders that are not allowed to be worn separately from the ribbons, therefore, trims are not provided for them.
Another nuance. For a separate carrying of a ribbon to the Order of Victory, a special rectangular bar of 46 x 8 mm is offered. The rest can be of different sizes and combine from 2 to 5 ribbons.
Anniversary medals
Now let's figure out which side the commemorative medals are on. They, as well as other insignia (not anniversary), are worn on the left side of a tunic or jacket. Each of them is accompanied by a separate provision, which indicates who specifically can be awarded and how exactly it should be worn.
In fact, there are a lot of jubilee medals, here are just a few of them:
- “XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army”;
- “30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy”;
- "40 years of the Armed forces of the USSR";
- "50 years of the Armed forces of the USSR";
- "60 years of the Armed forces of the USSR";
- "70 years of the Armed forces of the USSR."
All these medals are worn on the left side of the chest and are placed one after the other in the order indicated above.
After the award "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." A series of commemorative medals also follows:
- “Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”;
- “Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”;
- “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
Another very honorable and significant award - “For Valiant Labor (For Military Valor)” was established in honor of the centenary of the birth of the leader of the proletariat V. I. Lenin. This award is so weighty that when worn with other orders or medals of the USSR, it is attached above and to the left of the common order bar. Above it is only the "Golden Star" or "Hammer and Sickle", if any.
They are also located in this order.
Private Awards
Those who carefully read the information stated above should not have a question about which side the non-state medals are on. Right. Just like all other badges of this kind, they are placed on the left. Such awards include, for example, anniversary medals of the Russian Federation. The fact is that by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 7, 2010 No. 1099, such insignia are no longer state.
Non-state awards include the Zhukov medal, established by the centenary of the great commander. It is interesting that it exists in two forms: numbered and non-dimensional, with the first classified as state awards, and the second not. The civilian and military personnel of the Navy, the Red Army, the NKVD troops, members of the underground and partisans for the personal courage, courage and stamina shown in the fight against the Nazis and Japanese militarists were awarded an unlimited medal. Together with the medal, all awarded were awarded a certificate for it.
veteran of labour
If military people usually know how and where to wear awards, then civilians most often have difficulties with this. For example, on which side are the Veteran of Labor medal worn, not everyone who is awarded it knows. Having carefully read our article, this question can be answered without much difficulty. Since this is a medal, then you need to wear it on the left. If a person already has the award "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", then the "Veteran of Labor" is located after it. Party or trade union organizations in enterprises, the administration of the institution in which the person works can apply for the award.
Where medals should not be worn
So, with the question of which side they wear medals, we figured it out. But the people who have them simply need to know where to wear insignia.
- According to the Rules for the wearing of medals, orders, military insignia and order ribbons (Order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 240 of 06/21/1943), if a person wears a military uniform, the existing insignia must be present on it.
- All awards are worn only on uniforms, tunics or tunics. On overcoats, awards are attached only in parades, and even then in each individual case, this requires an order from the command.
- It is forbidden to wear any orders, medals and military insignia on top overalls, overalls, coats and various quilted jackets.
- If a person is awarded the Golden Star medal and the title Hero of the Soviet Union or the Hammer and Sickle medal and recognized as the Hero of Socialist Labor, then he must wear these insignia constantly, both with a full dress and with a daily or field uniform. It is also necessary to wear signs of the number of injuries, honors officers of the combat arms, the sign “Guard” and others.
As you can see, there are a lot of subtleties and nuances in this matter, so before you put on a particular award, you should additionally ask how to wear it.