Star of Courage (Canada)

Star of Courage
The Star of Courage
Awarded by the monarch of Canada
Type	Medal
Eligibility	All Canadian citizens and foreign persons as described.
Awarded for	Acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril.
Status	Currently awarded
Post-nominals	SC (English) ÉC (French)
Statistics
Established	1 May 1972
First awarded	20 July 1972
Total awarded	420
Posthumous awards	76
Precedence
Next (higher)	Star of Military Valour
Next (lower)	Meritorious Service Cross
Ribbon of the Star of Courage

The Star of Courage (French: Étoile du Courage) is a decoration that is the second highest award for bravery within the Canadian system of honours, and one of the three Canadian Bravery Decorations gifted by the Canadian monarch, generally through his or her viceroy-in-Council. Created in 1972, the medal is presented to both living and deceased individuals deemed to have performed "acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril," and grants recipients the ability to use post-nominal letters; for Anglophones SC, and for Francophones ÉC.

The Star of Courage is in the form of a 38 millimetres (1.5 in) wide silver compass star Celeste with a maple leaf in each angle. On the obverse is a gold roundel at the centre of the star, bearing a maple leaf surrounded by a laurel wreath. The reverse bears on the upper arm the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch beneath a St. Edward's Crown, symbolizing the Canadian monarch's role as the fount of honour, and the inscription COURAGE. Below this is engraved the name and rank of the recipient.

This medallion is worn on the left chest, on a 38 millimetres (1.5 in) wide ribbon coloured red with two vertical blue stripes: for men, hung from a bar, and for women, on a ribbon bow, both pinned to the left chest. Should an individual already possessing a Star of Courage be awarded the medal again for subsequent acts of bravery, he or she is granted a medal bar, in gold and bearing a maple leaf, for wear on the ribbon from which the original medal is suspended; a small gold maple leaf is also added to the ribbon bar.