Decoration for Services to the Red Cross explained

Decoration for Services to the Red Cross
Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Rote Kreuz
Presenter:Austria-Hungary
Type:Military decoration
Eligibility:Individuals who worked in the voluntary emergency services of the Red Cross
Established:17 August 1914
Higher:Military Long Service Crosses
Lower:1898 Jubilee Medal
Image2 Size:100px

The Decoration for Services to the Red Cross (Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Rote Kreuz) was an Austro-Hungarian award instituted on 17 August 1914 by Emperor Franz Joseph I to mark the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention. It was intended to honour individuals who had worked in the voluntary emergency services of the Red Cross, either in peacetime or in war.

The order consists of four classes, as well as an associated medal in two classes:

  1. Star
  1. Merit Cross, 1st class
  1. Officer's Cross
  1. Merit Cross, 2nd class
    • Silver Medal
    • Bronze Medal

Awards for military services was augmented with a war decoration for the ceremony.