The Gold Medal of Military Valour (or Medaglia d’oro al valor militare in Italian) is a medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers.
On 14 August 1815, Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia replaced it with the Military Order of Savoy. On 26 March 1833, Charles Albert of Sardinia revived it and added to it the Silver and Bronze medals.
With the proclamation of the Republic on 2 June 1946, the coat of arms of the House of Savoy was replaced with the emblem of the Italian Republic.
For actions performed by individuals during World War I, the Gold Medal was awarded some 368 times, as well as 37 times to military units, and once to the Unknown Soldier. Only four of the individual awards went to foreigners, one of these being Czar Nicholas II of Russia. The other three were for acts of gallantry in which the recipient was killed in action or died from his injuries (the Frenchmen John O’Byrne and Roland Morillot, and the American Coleman deWitt).
During World War II the medal was awarded to soldiers of the Royal Italian Army; after these forces were reorganized following the Armistice with Italy in 1943, it was awarded to members of the Allies-supporting Italian Co-Belligerent forces. The Axis-affiliated Italian Social Republic created another design of the medal, with a Gladius replacing the arms of Savoy, for members of the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano from 1943 to 1945. This version of the award was not given recognition by the postwar Italian government.
The Gold Medal for Military Valor is still awarded by the Italian state, and it, along with Silver and Bronze medals for Military Valor as well as the War Cross of Military Valor (which can only be awarded in time of war) was established by the Royal Decree of 4 November 1932.
The Gold Medal of Military Valor Design
The obverse of the medal displays the coat of arms of Savoy with laurel branches, the royal crown, and the words “For Military Valor“. On the reverse are two laurel branches enclosing the name of the decorated soldier, and the place and date of the action.
