Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross (VC) is a military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and civilians under military command, and is presented to the recipient by the British monarch during an investiture held at Buckingham Palace. As it is the highest award for bravery in the United Kingdom, it takes precedence over other postnominals and medals.

The VC was introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then the medal has been awarded 1,356 times to 1,353 individual recipients. Only 14 medals have been awarded since the end of the Second World War. The medal itself is made from the gunmetal of a weapon supposedly captured at the siege of Sevastopol, but several historians have since questioned the true origin of the gunmetal. Due to its rarity, the VC is highly prized and the medal can reach over £200,000 at auction and there are a number of public and private collections devoted to it, most notably that of Lord Ashcroft, which contains over one-tenth of the total VCs awarded.