Many nations of the world cherish time honoured traditions to publically acclaim feats of conspicuous bravery by their military heroes. This typically involves conferring of a distinctive and colourful medal in a ceremonial rite often centuries old.

Until 1993 Canada had no premier military decoration of its own. Instead, the Canadian Government chose to rely on Great Britain as well as other nations to recognize extraordinary military feats exhibited by Canadians. Britain's highest military award, the Victoria Cross, is personally or posthumously presented to recipients by Britain's reigning monarch. Queen Victoria presented the first Victoria Cross in an award ceremony on June 26, 1857 involving sixty–two veterans of the Crimean War. Victoria Crosses are fashioned from the bronze cascabels of two Russian cannons captured at Sevastopol; the last great battle of the Crimean War.....