History

The Bronze Cross was established by Royal Decree in 1940. It was the first of many awards established by the Netherlands during the Second World War to properly compensate military personnel.

It is awarded to Dutch military personnel, and under exceptional circumstances to Dutch civilians, in recognition of brave actions against the enemy. It may also be awarded to foreigners for brave actions in service of the Netherlands.

From 1940-1944, the Bronze Cross could be awarded with a crown clasp for honourable mention, but in 1944, the 87 crosses with honourable mention that had been awarded were replaced by the Bronze Lion. A clasp with an Arabic numeral is awarded for each subsequent citation and denotes the total number of received awards.

The Bronze Cross features a reverse inscription that translates to "Loyalty to Queen and Country." Crosses produced after 2013 feature "King" in the reverse inscription instead of "Queen." There may be additional versions that vary in size.