The Star of Courage (Étoile du Courage in French) is a decoration established on 1 May 1972 and the second highest award for bravery within the Canadian system of honors. Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of her Cabinet under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, created the Star of Courage to recognize acts of great bravery.
The medal is presented to both living and deceased individuals deemed to have performed “acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril” and grants recipients the ability to use post-nominal letters SC (for Anglophones) and EC (for Francophones).
Any person, living or deceased, may be nominated for the Star of Courage. It’s not necessary for the person who carried out the act be a Canadian.
The Star of Courage Design
The badge is a 38 millimeters (1.5 in) wide silver compass star Celeste with a maple leaf in each angle.
On the obverse is a gold roundel bearing a maple leaf surrounded by a laurel wreath. The reverse bears on the upper arm the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch beneath a St. Edward’s Crown, symbolizing the Canadian monarch’s role as the fount of honor, and the inscription COURAGE. Below this is engraved the name and rank of the recipient.
Mean wear the medallion on the left chest, on a 38 millimeters (1.5 in) wide, red with two vertical blue stripes ribbon. Women, on a ribbon bow and pinned to the left chest.
