Czechoslovak War Cross 1939

The Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 was established as a decoration for Czechoslovak citizens in the homeland, units and members of the Czechoslovak army abroad, as well as units and soldiers of the Allied armies who took part in the fighting that began in 1939 and demonstrated an outstanding and successful act of performance or command, in which they were personally exposed to the danger of life, or even sacrificed their lives.

The artistic design of the decoration is the work of Rudolf Polák, who created the badge in the form of a bronze Greek cross with a diameter of 44 mm. The arms of the cross are arrow-headed and between them are placed crossed swords. On the obverse, the arms of the cross are embossed in half, and a plate with a small national emblem is placed in the centre of the cross. On the reverse, which is flat, a perpendicularly grooved plate with the year 1939 and the Bohemian national emblem in a circle is placed in the centre of the cross.

The upper tip of the cross bears the emblem of Slovakia in a circle, the lower tip the emblem of Subcarpathian Rus, the right tip the emblem of Moravia and the left tip the emblem of Silesia. On the upper tip of the cross there is a fixed eyelet through which the hanging circle of the ribbon passes. The ribbon is 40 mm wide, red, intersected by five 5 mm wide white stripes, which are intersected in the centre by 1,5 mm wide blue stripes, the edges of the ribbon are shaded white.

The repeated award of the cross is expressed by a gilded lime sprig, which is considered to be the ribbon. The 1939 Czechoslovak War Cross was produced in a total of four editions over time. The most collectible and least numerous are the two variants of the London Second War issue.