The Royal Red Cross

• Time Period: Pre-WW1
• Institution: 27 April 1883
• Country: Great Britain

The Royal Red Cross is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. It was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria.

The Royal Red Cross has a single class of Member and it was first awarded to the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. A second and lower class, Associate, was added during World War I in 1917.

The award is awarded to a fully trained nurse of an officially recognized nursing service, military or civilian, who has shown exceptional devotion and competence in the performance of nursing duties, over a continuous and long period, or who has performed an exceptional act of bravery and devotion at her or his post of duty.

The decoration was conferred exclusively to women until 1976.  Recipients of the Royal Red Cross are entitled to use the post-nominal letters “RRC” or “ARRC” for Members and Associates respectively.

The Royal Red Cross Medal Design

The badge for RRC is shaped like a golden cross. It measures 1.375 inches (or 3.49 cm) wide.

The obverse is enameled red, with a circular medallion (now bearing an effigy of the reigning monarch) at its centre. The words “Faith“, “Hope” and “Charity” are inscribed on the upper limbs of the cross, and the year “1883” in the lower limb.

The reverse is plain except a circular medallion bearing the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch.

The ribbon for both grades is dark blue with crimson edge stripes. To recognise further exceptional devotion and competency in the performance of nursing duties or exceptional act of bravery and devotion at her or his post of duty, a bar may be awarded to a recipient of the RRC. The bar is linked to the cross and is made of red enamel. A rosette is worn on the ribbon in undress to denote a bar to the RRC.