The first version was established by the Venizelist "National Defence" Government on 28 February 1917, and confirmed by Royal Decree on 31 October, shortly after the entry of the whole of Greece in the First World War.

Its creation was inspired by the French Croix de guerre, and it was awarded to military personnel of all branches for acts of valour in the Macedonian front (1916–1918), the Allied Expedition to Ukraine (1919) and the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 (rarely after 1920 due to its Venizelist connotations).

The medal was designed by the French sculptor André Rivaud, featuring a silver medal consisting of a vertical sword on a circular wreath, with a horizontal plaque, bearing the ancient Spartan motto "Η ΤΑΝ Η ΕΠΙ ΤΑΣ" ("[return home] either with your shield, or upon it") underneath.

The Venizelist associations of the 1917 cross meant that, when Greece found itself at war again in October 1940 after the Italian invasion, the staunchly royalist dictatorial government chose an entirely different design instead of simply re-establishing the old version.

The new medal was instituted by Royal Decree on 11 November 1940 (Compulsory Law 2646/1940) and continued to be awarded throughout the Second World War.

Due to the fall of the junta and the restoration of democracy a few months later, the medal was not officially redesigned at the time.