Reference Entry
CREATION OF THE BADGE OF MILITARY MERIT
In the late summer of the Revolutionary War, General George Washington issued a general order at his headquarters in Newburgh, New York, establishing a new distinction for enlisted soldiers and noncommissioned officers. The Badge of Military Merit took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, to be worn over the left breast by those who had performed “any singularly meritorious action” in the service of the Continental Army.
Dated Historical Context
A RECORDED MOMENT IN HISTORY
Creation of the Badge of Military Merit
In the late summer of the Revolutionary War, General George Washington issued a general order at his headquarters in Newburgh, New York, establishing a new distinction for enlisted soldiers and noncommissioned officers. The Badge of Military Merit took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, to be worn over the left breast by those who had performed “any singularly meritorious action” in the service of the Continental Army. At a time when European armies reserved most honors for officers and gentlemen, the badge signaled Washington’s desire to recognize courage and fidelity among ordinary soldiers. Only a few men received it during the war, but the idea lingered in American memory. When the modern Purple Heart was created in the twentieth century, it drew inspiration from this 1782 precedent and shifted its focus to those wounded or killed in action. Today’s observances on August 7th, marked as Purple Heart Day, look back to both the suffering and the steadfastness embodied in that original cloth heart.
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