Memorial Cross

The Memorial Cross (French: Croix du Souvenir), often known as the Silver Cross for Mothers, is a Canadian decoration awarded to the mother, widow, widower, or next of kin of any member of the Canadian Armed Forces whose life is lost on active service, including peacekeeping, other such international operations and, since 2001, other service-related deaths.

Since January 1945, awards have been presented with a straight silver brooch bar in place of the purple ribbon, to be worn on the left breast, above any other medals the recipient may have.

[5] The idea of introducing the Silver Cross for mothers whose sons died in World War I belongs to the Canadian fiction author William Alexander Fraser.

[7] On 1 December 1919, King George V, on the advice of his Cabinet under Prime Minister Robert Borden, created the Memorial Cross as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on the part of widows and mothers of Canadian sailors, soldiers, and airmen who had died for the country during the First World War.

[10] In January 2007 the criteria for awarding the Memorial Cross were altered, retroactive to 6 October 2001, so that all service related deaths were to be recognised, not simply those occurring during overseas missions.