History

The Cross for Peninsular War (Cruz de Condecoração da Guerra Peninsular para Oficiais) was established in Rio de Janeiro by King João VI of Portugal on March 28, 1820. It was created to reward the services of Officers, enlisted men, and civilians who had served to Portugal in the Peninsular War. The Cross was mainly awarded to British, Hanoverian, and Portuguese military personnel.

The Cross consisted of two classes; the Gold Cross was awarded to Officers and high military ranks, while the Silver Cross was awarded to enlisted men and civilians. Generally, the awards depicted the years of services from 2 to 6 years in Arabic Numbers. The decoration for British recipients featured Roman Number.

Several varieties of this Cross are known due to the recipient was assigned the responsibility of acquiring this Cross.