The Weerodara Vibhushanaya (WV, English:Order of Courage) (Sinhala: වීරෝධාර වීභූෂණය vīrōdāra vibhūṣanaya) is the second-highest decoration awarded by the Military of Sri Lanka awarded for: ...individual acts of gallantry and conspicuous bravery of a non-military nature of the most exceptional order performed voluntarily with no regard to his own life and security with the objective of saving or safeguarding the life or lives of a person or personnel imperiled by death or for a meritorious act or a series of acts of a humane nature of an exceptional order displayed in saving life from drowning, fire and rescue operations in mines, floods and similar calamities under circumstances of grave bodily injury or great danger to the life of the rescuer...The Weerodara Vibhushanaya is equivalent to the British George Cross and the Indian Ashoka Chakra Award, and is the highest peacetime military decoration awarded by Sri Lanka.

In 1946, Botalage Edmund Perera was awarded the George Medal for rescuing four crewmen from a burning aircraft crash in Negombo.

In 1989, Lance Corporal P. L. S. L. Cooray of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment became the first recipients of the Weerodara Vibhushanaya.

Having sustained burn injuries himself, he saved the life of his wounded officer from drowning after the helicopter they had been carrying out an air reconnaissance patrol crashed landed Nawanthurai Lagoon, Jaffna following mechanical failure and started burning on 30 November 1989.

[3] In 2022, the 2016 award of the Weerodara Vibhushanaya to Group Captain L. C. Dissanayake was canceled following an internal inquiry which had been described as an "an administrative lapse".