History of the medal
The main Soviet military decoration is the star of the «Hero of the Soviet Union.»
The title of the Hero of the USSR was established by the Decree of the CEC of the USSR on April 16, 1934. The resolution states that «The Heroes of the Soviet Union were issued a distinctive diploma.» There were introduced no other attributes and insignia of the Heroes of the Soviet Union. The Regulation on the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union was adopted on July 29, 1936. It introduced a procedure for awarding the Heroes of the Soviet Union, in addition to the ratification of the CEC, also with the Order of Lenin — the highest award of the Soviet Union. Those who have been awarded the title of Hero before the adoption of this Regulation received it with, they were 11 people. From this moment all the heroes of the Soviet Union were awarded with the Order of Lenin till almost to the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
On August 1, 1939 there was established the medal of «The Hero of the Soviet Union,» which is awarded simultaneously with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.
Statute of the medal
The highest degree of battle honors of the USSR. The honorary title was given for the feat or distinguished service during the fighting, as well as, by way of exception, in peacetime.
The gold soviet medal was given for special achievements and committed deeds. The heroes were named those who shot down the aircraft (not less than 15 planes), saved people. Air arrow-bombers could get a «Gold Star» for shooting down 8 aircrafts of the enemy in the air.
Description of the medal
Medal «Gold Star» is a five-pointed star with smooth dihedral beams on the obverse. The distance from the center of the star to the top of the beam is 15 mm. The distance between the opposite ends of the star is 30 mm.
The reverse of the medal has a smooth surface and is bounded with protruding thin rim on the contour. On the reverse side in the center of the coin there is an inscription in capital letters «Hero of the Soviet Union.» The size of the letters is 4 by 2 mm. in the top beam there is number of medal with the height of 1 mm.
The medal is connected to the block with the tab and the metal ring. There are cuts along the base of the block; its inner part is covered with silk moire ribbon of red with 20 mm wide. There is a rifled pin to attach the medal to clothing.
The medal is made of gold 950. The block of the medal is made of silver. There are two type of the medal: and early and late ones.