Grand Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari

The Order's badge is a cross with ball finials; the inscription on the horizontal arms reads: VIR-TUTI, and on the vertical arms: MILI-TARI. On the obverse, the arms are covered in black enamel with a gilded rim. The central part of the cross, on the obverse, features an enamelled white eagle (with a golden crown, sceptre and orb) on a gilded round shield, surrounded by a green enamelled laurel wreath.
The Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin. for military virtue) is the highest military decoration in Poland.
The Order of Virtuti Militari was the second military decoration in Europe, after the Order of Maria Theresa, awarded for outstanding courage on the battlefield.
It was instituted in 1792 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski after the victorious battle of Zieleńce during the Polish-Russian war against the Targowica Confederation, in defence of the Constitution of 3 May, 1972. The Order was prohibited until 1919, when it was reinstituted.