- Time Period: Second World War
- Year of Institution: 9 June 1945
- Country: Russia & USSR
The Medal for the Liberation of Prague (or Медаль «За освобождение Праги», Medal «Za osvobozhdenie Pragi» in Russian) was established on 9 June 1945 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and awarded to Soviet service personnel who took part in the liberation of Prague from the armed forces of Nazi Germany between the 3 and 9 May 1945.
The medal was awarded to soldiers of the Red Army, Navy, and troops of the NKVD, direct participants of the heroic assault and liberation of the city of Prague as well as to the organizers and leaders of combat operations in the capture of this city. Serving military personnel received the medal from their unit commander, retirees from military service received the medal from a regional, municipal, or district military commissioner in the recipient’s community.
The Medal for the Liberation of Prague Design
The medal was 32mm in diameter, circular, and made of brass, with a raised rim on the obverse. It was worn on the left side of the chest.
On its obverse along the upper half of the medal’s circumference, the relief inscription «ЗА ОСВОБОЖДЕНИЕ» (“FOR THE LIBERATION OF”), beneath the inscription, in prominent letters, the relief inscription «ПРАГИ» (“PRAGUE”). At the bottom, a small relief five-pointed star over a laurel wreath, over the wreath, a rising sun casting divergent rays upwards. On the reverse the relief date in three rows «9 МАЯ 1945» (“9 MAY 1945”) over a relief plain five-pointed star.
The Medal “For the Liberation of Prague” was secured by a ring through the medal suspension loop to a standard Soviet pentagonal mount covered by a 24mm wide purple silk moiré ribbon with an 8mm wide blue central stripe.
