Pro Valore

Canada's new Victoria Cross was officially unveiled today by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

In the "you learn something new every day" category, I had no idea that in order of precedence, nothing is higher than the Victoria Cross and the Cross of Valour, including the Order of Canada.

Today's announcement is the culmination of a long process to establish a Canadian VC began back in 1993.

National Defence and the Governer General have compiled a fantastic .pdf on the VC covering it's history in Canada and a detailed account of the entire process involved in creating Canada's own version. Well worth the read.

Some interesting facts:

* a slice of the original British gunmetal was obtained to use in the Canadian version. Also included is an 1867 Confederation medal and other Canadian metals.

* British VC's were cast, not struck, due to the brittle nature of the alloy used. The Canadian VC will continue this tradition

* The first two medals were sent to UK to be part of the Queen's Royal Collection

* 20 Victoria Cross medals now reside at Rideau Hall along with the remaining alloy required for any future castings. Seven ingots of the Canadian VC alloy were created for present and future use.

* the Royal Canadian Mint created the dies that were then used to create molds. Materials Technology Laboratory of Natural Resources Canada created the alloys to be used in the new medal and then cast the first batch. The final stage of the process saw the medals returned to the Royal Canadian Mint for final preparation for presentation.

Related: Canadian VC Recipients

Cross posted to Blue Blogging Soapbox