Nominate someone for an honour or award
Recommend someone for a gallantry award
Civilian gallantry awards recognise the bravery of people who’ve put themselves in danger to save (or attempt to save) someone’s life. Recommendations are judged on:
- degree of risk
- how aware the nominee was of the danger
- persistence
The incident must have taken place in the last 5 years. You can recommend someone after they’ve died – they’ll get a posthumous award. They do not have to be British (except for the George Cross award).
Types of gallantry awards
You can recommend someone for the:
- George Cross (a first-level civilian medal for bravery, for acts of great heroism and courage in extreme danger)
- George Medal (a second-level civilian medal for bravery, for acts of great bravery)
- Queen’s Gallantry Medal (a third-level civilian medal for bravery, for inspiring acts of bravery)
- Queen’s Commendation for Bravery/Bravery in the Air (a fourth-level civilian medal for bravery, for acts which involve risk to life)
How to recommend someone for a gallantry award
Email the Honours and Appointments Secretariat.
You’ll need to write a detailed description explaining why you’re recommending them. Include the person’s:
- name
- date of birth
- address
Give as many details as possible about what happened. This will make your application more likely to be considered. Include:
- location
- date
- any emergency or official services that were there
Honours and Appointments Secretariat
honours@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
After you recommend someone for a gallantry award
All recommendations will be assessed by the George Cross Committee, which makes recommendations to the King, who awards the honour.