Order of the Red Banner
Soviet award for Heroism in combat or long service in the armed forces (1918–1991)
The Order of the Red Banner (Russian: Орден Красного Знамени, romanised: Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of Soviet Russia, subsequently the Soviet Union, until the Order of Lenin was established in 1930. Recipients were recognised for extraordinary heroism, dedication, and courage demonstrated on the battlefield. The Order was awarded to individuals as well as to military units, cities, ships, a train, political and social organisations, and state enterprises. In later years, it was also awarded on the twentieth and again on the thirtieth anniversary of military, police, or state security service without requiring participation in combat (the "Long Service Award" variant).
Award history
The Russian Order of the Red Banner was established during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 16, 1918.
The first recipient was Vasily Blyukher on September 28, 1918. The second recipient was Iona Yakir.
During the Civil War, similarly named orders and decorations existed, which were established by the Soviet communist governments of several other constituent and nonconstituent republics.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Order of the Red Banner” as soviet award for Heroism in combat or long service in the armed forces (1918–1991). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as soviet award for Heroism in combat or long service in the armed forces (1918–1991). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q337463. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1918 and 1930.
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This entry incorporates text from “Order of the Red Banner” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.