Medals and Decorations

The President of the Republic of Serbia confers medals and decorations on the honourable persons: Order of the Republic of SerbiaOrder of the Serbian FlagFeast of the Presentation OrderOrder for the Merits of the StateOrder of the White Eagle with Swards and Order of Merits in Defense and Security. In early May 2010, the erstwhile highest Serbia decoration was reintroduced – Order of the Karađorđe’s Star, as well as Medal for Bravery, known as the „Medal of Milos Obilić“.

Republika Srpska also has its state medals and decorations – Order of the Republika SrpskaOrder of the NemanjićsOrder of the Karađorđe’s StarOrder of Miloš ObilićOrder of NjegošOrder of the Merciful Cross.

The Serbian Orthodox Church confers Order of St Sava for the Church merits.

HISTORY

The first decoration in the South Slavs was the Order of Obilić for bravery, introduced by Njegoš in Montenegro in 1847. The medal was conferred in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The first Serbian medal was the Medal of Loyalty, introduced by Prince Miloš Obrenović in 1858. The first decoration was Takovo Cross, introduced in 1865 by Prince Michael for the Second Serbian Uprising 50th anniversary.

The Kingdom of Serbia decorations were introduced in 1883 by King Milan Obrenović – Order of the White Eagle and Order of St Sava for meritorious achievements in the arts and sciences and the Church. Order of Karađorđe’s Star was introduced in 1915 and was conferred to the bravest soldiers and petty officers.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia kept some decorations from the Kingdom of Serbia, introducing some new ones, though. Around 15,000 fighters in the First World War were conferred the Albanian Memorial Medal.

In SFR of Yugoslavia there were quite a lot of medals, the highest being the Order of a National Hero.