Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) The Ashoka Chakra (alternative spelling: Ashok Chakra) is India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel. Ashok Chakra is equivalent to US Army's peacetime Medal of Honor and the British George Cross. Flt. Lt. Suhas Biswas was the first Indian Air Force officer
Hasta pura (military decoration) to a soldier who had struck down an enemy in a sally or skirmish. Tacitus records a "hasta pura" being given as a decoration, bestowed upon a soldier for saving the life of a fellow-citizen: A civil servant called Tiberius Claudius Balbilus was awarded the "hasta pura" and perhaps also the "corona aurea" by Claudius during the triumph to celebrate the conquest of Britain in AD 44. As a friend and part of the Emperor’s retinue, it seems likely that his awards, as much as his military rank, were honorary. The "hasta pura" was also recorded as being given to