Victoria Cross

American  

noun

1. a British decoration awarded to soldiers and sailors for acts of conspicuous bravery in the presence of the enemy. V.C.

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Victoria Cross British  

noun

1. the highest decoration for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to the British and Commonwealth armed forces: instituted in 1856 by Queen Victoria

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Etymology

Origin of Victoria Cross

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Roberts-Smith - who the year before had been awarded the Commonwealth's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross - went looking for him in a village called Darwan two weeks later.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

Roberts-Smith won the Victoria Cross -- Australia's highest military honour -- for "conspicuous gallantry" in Afghanistan while on the hunt for a senior Taliban commander.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

Swinney's uncle, Cpl Tom Hunter, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross after dying at Lake Comacchio in Italy months before the end of World War Two.

From BBC • Jan. 9, 2026

Corporal Sidney Bates posthumously received Britain's Victoria Cross for "supreme gallantry" after repeatedly charging a critical German position with a light machine gun before dying of his wounds.

From Reuters • Nov. 12, 2023

In explanation of the fact that he never received the Victoria Cross it was said of him that it was because he earned it every day of his life.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 5 "Hinduism" to "Home, Earls of" by Various