Distinguished Flying Cross was established
by an Act of Congress of July 2, 1926 (amended by Executive Order
7786 on January 8, 1938), for award to any person who, serving any
branch of the service including the National Guard and the Organized
Reserves after 6 APR 17: For Heroism or Extraordinary Achievement
while Participating in Aerial Flight. Award: This medal is awarded to any officer or enlisted man of the armed
forces of the United States who shall have distinguished himself by
"heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial
flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The decoration may also
be given for an act performed prior to November 11, 1918, when the
individual has been recommended for, but has not received the Medal
of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, or Distinguished
Service Medal.
Subsequent awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross are indicated
by oak-leaf clusters for Army and Air Force personnel and by additional
award stars for members of the Naval services.
During wartime, members of the armed
forces of friendly foreign nations serving with the United States
are eligible for the D.F.C. It is also given to those who display
heroism while working as instructors or students at flying schools.
Design: Designed by Elizabeth Will and Arthur E. DuBois. It is a bronze cross
pattee, with rays between the arms of the cross. On the obverse is
a propeller of four blades, with one blade in each arm of the cross
and in the re-entrant angles of the cross are rays which form a square.
The cross is suspended by a recatgular-shaped bar and centered on
this is a plain shield. The reverse is blank and suitable for engraving
the recipients name and rank.
When this decoration was originally
created there was a movement to have this awarded in different classes,
and though this idea was never approved, some copies of the higher
class were made, they are the same design as the approved Distinguished
Flying Cross, slightly larger, and with a pin attached to the reverse,
so that it would be worn as a breast decoration. This class was never
approved and was never officially awarded.
Ribbon: The Ribbon has a narrow red center stripe, flanked on either side
by a thin white stripe, a wide stripe of dark blue, a narrow white
stripe and narrow dark blue at the edge of the ribbon. Bronze V device
worn to denote Valor/Heroism.
History: The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded first to Captain
Charles A. Lindbergh, of the U.S. Army Corps Reserve, for his
solo flight of 3600 miles across the Atlantic in 1927, a feat which
electrified the world and made "Lindy" one of America's most popular
heroes. The first D.F.C. to be awarded to a Navy man was to Commander
Richard E. Byrd, of the U.S. Navy Air Corps, on May 9, 1926, for his
exciting flight to and from the North Pole. Both these famous aviators
also received the Medal of Honor with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The Aviatrix Amelia Earhart also received the Distinguished
Flying Cross. Hers was the only such award, as an executive order
on March 1, 1927, ruled that D.F.C. should not be conferred on civilians.