- Time Period: Post-WW2 Period
- Year of Institution: 1955
- Country: China
The Order of Bayi (八一勋章 in Chinese, Bā Yī Xūn Zhāng in pinyin) was a Chinese military award awarded to heroes of the Liberation of China during the First Chinese Civil War, between 1927 and 1949. The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China (ROC) and forces of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The Communists gained control of mainland China and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the leadership of the Republic of China to retreat to the island of Taiwan. o armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed.
The Order was established in 1955 and given to soldiers and civilian personnel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The award has been suspended since its last batch in 1957.
There are three grades for the Order of Bayi:
- First Class: Awarded to cadres above the divisional level at that time.
- Second Class: Awarded to regiment and battalion cadres at that time.
- Third Class: Awarded to thse that participated in the First Front Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army before October 20, 1935, the Second Front and Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army before September 30, 1936, and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army and the North Shaanxi Red Army before September 30, 1935.
An August 1st medal was awarded to personnel other than the above-mentioned personnel who participated in the Red Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants before July 6, 1937.
The Order of Bayi Design
The medal is round and decorated in gold, silver, and red enamels. The August 1st Medal have the August 1st Military Emblem as the central pattern and is a blunt pentagram.
The ribbon is one to three yellow bars on a red background indicating the rank of the medal.
