The Gallantry Awards of India Explained

India’s gallantry awards are the nation’s highest ways of saying thank you to people who put their lives on the line for others. They honour acts of extraordinary courage, whether in the thick of battle or in a moment of crisis far away from any front line, and they are among the most respected decorations in the country. A medal pinned to a uniform is also a short story: a name, a place, a date and a decision to act when staying safe would have been easier.

This guide explains how the system works. It covers the two broad families of decorations, the six chakras and their order of precedence, who is eligible, how the honours are announced, how they differ from “distinguished service” medals, and why names like Param Vir Chakra and Ashoka Chakra carry such weight in military culture and national memory.

Where It Began: From British Honours to Indian Ones

Before Independence, Indian soldiers were eligible for British imperial decorations such as the Victoria Cross, the George Cross and the Indian Order of Merit. Many Indian servicemen earned them, particularly in the two World Wars. When India became a republic in spirit and then in law, it needed honours of its own that reflected its culture, symbols and values.

The result was the first three Indian gallantry awards: the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra. They were instituted on 26 January 1950, the day the Constitution came into force, but were made effective from 15 August 1947 so that the gallantry shown in the very first conflict after Independence, the 1947-48 war in Jammu and Kashmir, could be recognised.

A second set followed in 1952, for acts of bravery that did not take place in the face of the enemy. Originally called Ashoka Chakra, Class I, Class II and Class III, they were renamed in 1967 as the Ashoka Chakra, the Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra. They too were given retrospective effect from 15 August 1947.

Two Families of Gallantry Awards: Wartime and Peacetime

The key to understanding the system is a simple question: where did the act of bravery take place? Wartime gallantry awards are given for valour in the presence of the enemy. Peacetime gallantry awards are given for conspicuous bravery or self-sacrifice that happened otherwise than in the face of the enemy. That second category is wider than it sounds. In practice it includes counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, hostage rescues, disaster response and acts of courage by civilians.

Each family has three levels, and they line up in matching pairs. The table below maps one to the other.

Read the table by rows to see the equivalence, and by the last column to see the actual sequence in which the medals are ranked and worn: PVC, Ashoka Chakra, MVC, Kirti Chakra, VrC, Shaurya Chakra.

The Param Vir Chakra: The Highest Wartime Honour

The Param Vir Chakra, usually abbreviated PVC, is awarded for the most conspicuous bravery, or some act of daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It is the equivalent in spirit of the Victoria Cross, and it is the most exclusive decoration in the country. Only a small number of people have received it since 1947, and the list is remembered almost name by name.

Design and symbolism

The medal is a circular bronze disc. At its centre sits the State Emblem on a raised circle, surrounded by four replicas of Indra’s vajra, the thunderbolt weapon of the Vedic god of the heavens. The vajra carries a famous story from Indian tradition: the sage Dadhichi gave up his own life so that his bones could be fashioned into a weapon to defeat evil. The choice of this motif ties the idea of sacrifice for a greater cause directly into the medal. The reverse bears the words Param Vir Chakra in Hindi and English, flanked by lotus flowers, and it hangs from a plain purple ribbon.

The first recipient

The first PVC was awarded posthumously to Major Somnath Sharma of the 4th Battalion, the Kumaon Regiment, who died defending the Srinagar airfield area near Badgam in November 1947. Later recipients came from the wars of 1962, 1965 and 1971, from United Nations service in the Congo, from the Siachen Glacier and from the Kargil conflict of 1999. The Indian Air Force has one PVC recipient, Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, honoured for the 1971 war.

The Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra

The two lower wartime awards recognise acts of gallantry that fall short of the PVC’s extreme standard, but are still remarkable. The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, and the Vir Chakra (VrC) for acts of gallantry in the same circumstances.

These are not minor honours. Many of the best-known stories of Indian military history are associated with them. Brigadier Mohammad Usman, who fell in the Naushera sector in 1948 and is remembered as the “Lion of Naushera”, received the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously. Captain Anuj Nayyar received the same decoration for his role in the Kargil conflict. Captain Vijayant Thapar, another young officer from Kargil, was honoured with the Vir Chakra.

• Maha Vir Chakra: second-highest wartime honour, ranking third in the overall order.
• Vir Chakra: third wartime honour, ranking fifth overall.
• Bar to the medal: if a recipient earns the same decoration again, a bar is added to the ribbon rather than a second medal being issued.

The Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra

The peacetime gallantry awards mirror the wartime ones, but for courage shown away from a conventional battlefield. The Ashoka Chakra is the highest of the three and the peacetime counterpart of the Param Vir Chakra. The Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra follow, equivalent in level to the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra respectively.

Where peacetime courage is recognised

The word “peacetime” can be misleading. Some of the toughest situations that India’s soldiers face today, such as operations against militants in Jammu and Kashmir or in the Northeast, are not declared wars. Acts of bravery in them are therefore recognised through the Ashoka Chakra series. So are police operations, rescue missions after accidents and disasters, and individual acts of courage by ordinary citizens.

• Ashoka Chakra: for the most conspicuous bravery, or some act of valour or self-sacrifice, otherwise than in the face of the enemy.
• Kirti Chakra: for conspicuous gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy.
• Shaurya Chakra: for gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy, at the third level.

The Ashoka Chakra medal carries the Ashoka Chakra, the wheel taken from the Sarnath lion capital, as its central motif, which is also the wheel on India’s national flag.

Who Can Receive Gallantry Awards?

Eligibility differs between the two families, and it is one of the most useful details to understand.

Wartime awards

The Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra are meant for members of the armed forces of every rank, whether officers or soldiers. Reserve and territorial forces, nursing services and other lawfully constituted forces working under the armed forces are also covered.

Peacetime awards

The Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra are open to a much wider group. Besides members of the armed forces, they can go to members of the police and the central armed police forces, to other lawfully constituted forces and to civilians of either gender. This is why a flight purser, a police inspector and a young soldier can all appear on the same list of Ashoka Chakra recipients.

Other bravery honours for civilians and police exist outside this chakra family, including the police gallantry medals and the Jeevan Raksha Padak series for saving lives, as well as the National Bravery Awards for children. They are separate honours, but they share the same spirit.

Gallantry Awards Versus Distinguished Service Awards

People often confuse gallantry awards with distinguished service awards, and the difference is basic. Gallantry honours reward a specific act of courage. Distinguished service honours reward sustained, high-quality service over a period, or in a command or staff role, usually judged by a career rather than a single moment.

• Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM): exceptionally distinguished service of the highest order.
• Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM): distinguished service of a very high order.
• Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM): distinguished service of a high order.
• Uttam Yudh Seva Medal and Yudh Seva Medal: awarded for distinguished service in wartime conditions, in operational command or staff roles.

Alongside these are the Sena Medal, the Nau Sena Medal and the Vayu Sena Medal, awarded to the Army, Navy and Air Force respectively. These are gallantry medals at a level below the six chakras, recognising individual acts of bravery or devotion to duty. They are given for gallantry, not for general service, so they sit in the gallantry tier even though their names sound like service medals.

The Mention in Despatches is lower again. It is an official acknowledgement of gallantry or distinguished service, and the recipient wears a small emblem on the ribbon of the relevant campaign or service medal.

Order of Precedence and the Designer Behind the Medals

The six chakras sit at the top of the military honours list. The order is fixed: Param Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Vir Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. Gallantry medals such as the Sena, Nau Sena and Vayu Sena Medals come after, and the distinguished service awards follow in their own sequence. Within the order of wearing, a higher-ranked medal is placed first on the left of the chest.

One of the most interesting parts of this history is that the medal was designed by a woman. Savitri Khanolkar, born in Switzerland as Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros, married an Indian Army officer, Vikram Khanolkar, and settled in India, where she immersed herself in Indian culture, mythology and philosophy. The first Adjutant General of independent India, Major General Hira Lal Atal, asked her to design the Param Vir Chakra, and she is also credited with designing other gallantry decorations of the early republic. Her design rooted the medal in the Vedic story of Dadhichi, which is why the PVC speaks so clearly of sacrifice.

How the Awards Are Announced, Paid and Presented

Gallantry honours are normally announced twice a year, on the eve of Republic Day and the eve of Independence Day, when the Ministry of Defence releases the list of recipients approved by the President. The medals are later presented at an investiture ceremony, traditionally held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, where the President of India hands the decoration to the recipient or, in a poignant tradition, to the family of someone who has died.

Monetary allowance

Recipients of the gallantry chakras are entitled to a monthly allowance, with the rate linked to the level of the award. When the recipient has died, the allowance is generally extended to the widow or family under the rules in force. Many state governments add their own rewards, such as cash prizes, land grants or jobs for family members. The exact amounts are revised from time to time, so it is best to check the latest government notification for current figures.

Posthumous awards

A large share of the highest honours are awarded posthumously. This is not an accident of rules; it reflects the nature of the acts being recognised. Many of these actions involve a conscious decision to move towards danger so that others can survive. A majority of Param Vir Chakra recipients and many Ashoka Chakra recipients gave their lives in the act itself.

A Few Illustrative Recipients

The following examples are drawn from well-documented citations. They are only a handful of names among many, chosen to show the range of people and situations the awards cover.

Neerja Bhanot’s case is often cited because she was a civilian. As a purser on Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked at Karachi in September 1986, she helped passengers escape and lost her life while protecting them. She was honoured with the Ashoka Chakra and remains one of its best-known civilian recipients. Her story is a reminder that the peacetime honours exist partly to recognise exactly this kind of courage from people who never expected to need it.

Gallantry Awards in Military Culture and National Memory

Within the armed forces, these decorations are more than personal honours. Units remember their recipients in regimental histories, in the names of halls, roads and ships, and in the stories told to every new generation of recruits.

The nation’s collective memory has its own physical home. The National War Memorial, inaugurated in New Delhi in 2019 near India Gate, honours the soldiers who have died in the wars and operations since Independence. Its four concentric circles stand for the ideals of immortality, bravery, sacrifice and protection. At the memorial, the Param Yodha Sthal displays busts of the PVC recipients, so visitors can see the faces behind the medal.

Taken together, the six chakras form a clear ladder of recognition, from the Shaurya Chakra to the Param Vir Chakra. They tell citizens what the country values: courage that serves others. As long as people keep acting beyond what duty strictly requires, India’s gallantry awards will continue to record those acts for the nation to remember.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the gallantry awards of India?

India has six main gallantry awards: the Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra for wartime bravery, and the Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra for bravery away from the battlefield. They are given by the President of India on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defence and other competent authorities.

What is the difference between the Param Vir Chakra and the Ashoka Chakra?

Both are the highest awards in their category and rank first and second in the order of precedence. The Param Vir Chakra honours extraordinary valour in the presence of the enemy, while the Ashoka Chakra honours the same level of courage shown otherwise than in the face of the enemy, such as in counter-terrorism operations or rescue situations.

Can civilians receive gallantry awards?

Yes, but only the peacetime series. The Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra can be given to civilians as well as to members of the armed forces, police and paramilitary forces. The wartime awards are meant for the armed forces. Neerja Bhanot, a flight purser, is a well-known civilian recipient of the Ashoka Chakra.

When were the gallantry awards instituted?

The Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra were instituted on 26 January 1950 with effect from 15 August 1947. The peacetime series was instituted in 1952 as Ashoka Chakra Class I, II and III and was renamed Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra in 1967.

Who designed the Param Vir Chakra?

The Param Vir Chakra was designed by Savitri Khanolkar, who was born in Switzerland and settled in India after marrying an Indian Army officer. She based the design on the vajra, the thunderbolt associated with the sage Dadhichi’s sacrifice, and she is credited with designing other early gallantry medals as well.

Are gallantry awards the same as distinguished service medals?

No. Gallantry awards recognise a specific act of courage, while distinguished service medals such as the PVSM, AVSM and VSM recognise a long and outstanding record of service. The Sena, Nau Sena and Vayu Sena Medals are also gallantry medals but rank below the six chakras.

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