Vittorio Veneto Order
The Vittorio Veneto Order , Italian Ordine di Vittorio Veneto , is a veteran order of Italy founded in 1968 and dormant since 2008 . The order is named after the Battle of Vittorio Veneto , which decided the war on the Italian theater of war in the First World War at the end of October 1918 .
history
The order was created almost 50 years after the end of the war by a law of March 18, 1968. It consists of only one class, that of the knight (Cavaliere) . It was awarded to survivors of the First World War and earlier wars, provided that these veterans had been awarded the Italian War Merit Cross or could prove that they were entitled to it and that they were in full possession of their civil rights. The medal was usually only awarded on application and was associated with a small pension, provided that the applicant did not exceed a certain income. Former Austro-Hungarian soldiers who had become Italian citizens as a result of annexations were also entitled to such a pension .
The number of medal holders decreased over the years for natural reasons. The last three knights of Vittorio Veneto, Lazare Ponticelli (110), Francesco Chiarello (109) and Delfino Borroni (110) died in 2008. The order has been suspended since then. With the military code of 2010 (Codice dell'ordinamento militare) , the order was initially abolished, but then legally restored in 2012 through changes to the code.
Order Council
The President of the State is the head of the order, the Council of the Order consists de jure of the chairman, a lieutenant general or vice admiral , and four other generals or admirals as well as the chairman of the national veterans' association. The aforementioned generals are appointed de jure by the President on the proposal of the Defense Minister. Since the Order rests, there is the High Council de facto no longer.
Medals
The medal consists of a Greek metal cross with a steel helmet in the middle , while on the lapel there is a five-pointed star with the surrounding inscription Ordine di Vittorio Veneto. The cross hangs on a ribbon with the Italian national colors and a blue central stripe.
Anyone who had participated in the First World War or an earlier war in the Italian armed forces for at least six months could apply for a gold commemorative medal on the basis of the aforementioned law of 1968.
