George Cross The George Cross ( GC ) is the equal highest award of the United Kingdom honours system , being second in the order of wear ( but equal precedence ) to the Victoria Cross . The GC is the highest gallantry award for civilians , as well as for members of the armed forces in actions for which purely military honours would not normally be granted . Creation . The GC was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI . At this time , during the height of the Blitz , there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage . The existing awards open to civilians were not judged suitable to meet the new situation , therefore it was decided that the George Cross and the George Medal would be instituted to recognise both civilian gallantry in the face of enemy action and brave deeds more generally . Announcing the new award , the King said : The medal was designed by Percy Metcalfe . The Warrant for the GC ( along with that of the GM ) , dated 24 September 1940 , was published in the " London Gazette " on 31 January 1941 . The GC replaced the Empire Gallantry Medal ( EGM ) ; all holders of the EGM were instructed to exchange their medals for a GC , a substitution of awards unprecedented in the history of British decorations . This substitution policy ignored holders of the Albert Medal ( AM ) and the Edward Medal ( EM ) , awards which both took precedence over the EGM . The anomaly was rectified in 1971 , when the surviving recipients of the AM and the EM became George Cross recipients and were invited to exchange their medal for the George Cross . Of the 64 holders of the Albert Medal and 68 holders of the Edward Medal eligible to exchange , 49 and 59 respectively took up the option . Award . The GC , which may be awarded posthumously , is granted in recognition of : The award is for civilians but also for military personnel whose actions would not normally be eligible to receive military awards , such as gallantry not in the face of the enemy . The Warrant states : Bars are awarded to the GC in recognition of the performance of further acts of bravery meriting the award , although none have yet been awarded . Recipients are entitled to the postnominal letters GC . In common with the Victoria Cross , a distinction peculiar to these two premier awards for bravery , in undress uniform or on occasions when the medal ribbon alone is worn , a miniature replica of the cross is affixed to the centre of the ribbon . All GC awards are published in the " London Gazette " with the exception of the two collective bestowals . Recipients . Since its inception in 1940 , the GC has been awarded 406 times , 404 to individuals and two collective awards to Malta and the Royal Ulster Constabulary . There have been 161 original awards including both collective awards and 245 exchange awards , 112 to Empire Gallantry Medal recipients , 65 to Albert Medal recipients and 68 to Edward Medal recipients . Of the 159 individuals who received original awards , 86 have been posthumous . In addition there were four posthumous recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal whose awards were gazetted after the start of the Second World War and whose awards were also exchanged for the GC . All the other exchange recipients were living as of the date of the decisions for the exchanges . Recent recipients . The Ministry of Defence announced on 18 March 2010 that Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid was posthumously awarded the George Cross for making safe 70 improvised explosive devices in his time in Afghanistan . Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes was also awarded the George Cross for improvised explosive disposal efforts . Two other soldiers have been awarded the George Cross for actions carried out in the conflict in Afghanistan . The Iraq conflict saw two military recipients of the George Cross , Peter Norton and Christopher Finney . The most recent civilian recipient was Sergeant Stewart Guthrie of the New Zealand Police , who received his award posthumously for his part in apprehending a gunman in the 1990 Aramoana massacre in New Zealand . Female recipients . In its history , the GC has been awarded directly to only four women ( although a number of others have received the awards superseded by the GC ) : Collective awards . The George Cross has , on the express instruction of the Sovereign , been awarded twice on a collective basis , to the island of Malta and the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) . Malta . The GC was awarded to the island of Malta in a letter dated 15 April 1942 from King George VI to the island ' s Governor Lieutenant - General Sir William Dobbie : The Governor answered : The cross and the messages are today found in the War Museum in Fort Saint Elmo , Valletta . The fortitude of the population under sustained enemy air raids and a naval blockade which almost saw them starved into submission , won widespread admiration in Britain and other Allied nations . Some historians argue that the award was in fact a propaganda gesture to justify the huge losses sustained by Britain to prevent Malta from capitulating as Singapore had done in the Battle of Singapore . The George Cross is woven into the Flag of Malta and can be seen wherever the flag is flown . Royal Ulster Constabulary . The GC was awarded to the RUC in 1999 by Queen Elizabeth II following the advice of her Government . Buckingham Palace announced , The Queen paid her own personal tribute to the RUC by presenting the George Cross to the organisation in person at Hillsborough Castle , County Down . The citation published by Buckingham Palace on 23 November 1999 states : Two years later ( on 4 November 2001 ) , the RUC was renamed and is now the Police Service of Northern Ireland . Awards by nation . Canada . There have been 10 GCs awarded to Canadians ( including those by substitution for awards superseded by the GC ) : nine men and one woman . The GC is no longer awarded to Canadians by the Queen of Canada , who awards the Cross of Valour ( Canadian ) instead . Australia . Fourteen George Crosses were awarded to Australians between 1940 and 1978 , five of this total going to civilians . Of the 14 , four awards were made to officers of the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve who served in the extremely dangerous role of mine disposal during World War II . Courage of a different sort was displayed by two prisoners of war who endured terrible suffering without flinching , with Private Horace William Madden dying of privations while assisting fellow prisoners , and Captain Lionel Colin Matthews eventually being executed by his captors for building a resistance network . The last Australian to be awarded the GC ( in 1978 ) , and the most recent surviving civilian recipient , was Constable Michael Kenneth Pratt of the Victoria Police , Melbourne , for arresting two armed bank robbers in June 1976 . A memorial to Australian recipients , George Cross Park , was opened in the Capital , Canberra , on 4 April 2001 by the Governor General of Australia , Sir William Deane . The George Cross is no longer awarded to Australians . The Queen established the Cross of Valour in 1975 to be awarded by the Crown " " only for acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril " " , and this is now used instead of the George Cross . Annuity . Holders of the George Cross or Victoria Cross are entitled to an annuity , the amount of which is determined by the awarding government . Since 2002 , the annuity paid by the British government is £1 , 495 per year . In Canada under the " Gallantry Awards Order " , members of the Canadian Forces , or people who joined the British forces before 31 March 1949 while domiciled in Canada or Newfoundland , receive $ 3 , 000 per year . For Australian holders , the amount is determined by clause 11A1 . 2 of the " Australian Defence Force Pay and Conditions " , and as of January 2005 is $ 250 per year . George Cross Committee . The George Cross Committee considers cases of military and civilian gallantry . The Committee has no formal terms of reference . Restriction of use . , in accordance with the George Cross ( Restriction of Use ) Ordinance , in Malta it is unlawful to use the George Cross or an imitation of it or the words " George Cross " , for the purposes of trade or business without the authorisation of the Prime Minister . George Cross in literature and the arts . The fictional detective inspector William E . " Jack " Frost in the novels of R . D . Wingfield is a recipient of the George Cross , which sometimes serves as a plot element in allowing him to get away with actions that would otherwise have landed him in trouble . Ray Davies makes reference to George Cross recipients in The Kinks song " The Village Green Preservation Society " with the lyric " God save The George Cross and all those who were awarded them " .