Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why was the original Victoria Cross made from captured Russian guns?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
medal
Pierre and Marie Curie depicted on the obverse of a medal from the Unio Internationalis Contra Cancrum (International Union Against Cancer) commemorating the Curies' discovery of radium in 1898.
The Victoria Cross was instituted in 1856 during the Crimean War to recognize extreme bravery in the face of the enemy. The decision to cast the original medals from bronze taken from Russian guns captured during that conflict served as a symbolic connection to the war in which the decoration was born.1
While the medal remains the highest British military medal for valour, the use of this specific material established a lasting tradition linking the award to the historical context of its inception.1