Vir Chakra which officially stands as the fifth gallantry award is third in precedence in the list of war time gallantry award which comes after Param Vir Chakra. Officially like other gallantry awards this too is awarded for the acts of gallantry in the presence of enemy whether on land, or in the sea or in air. It can be awarded posthumously as well. Like Maha Vir Chakra this too shall add anew bar to the riband with the repetition of the same act of bravery. The number of times the act of conspicuous bravery is repeated it shall add a new bar to the award. Unlike Maha Vir Chakra this decoration is supposed to be worn on the right shoulder. Though originating in 26th January 1950, the status of this award was readjusted with amendments in 12 January 1952 to readjust the order of wearing as the new decoration was established.
Vir Chakra is a circular medal made of silver with a diameter of 1-3/8inches which bears a five pointed star and a chakra in the centre which holds a doom gilded with the national emblem at the centre. The decoration is named at the rim, and suspended from swivelling straight bar suspenders. At the centre two of the legends are separated with a lotus flower where the word Vir Chakra is written in both Hindi and English. Regarding the ribbon which is 32mm in width decorated with two colours half divided. The ribbon includes half Dark blue with 16mm and half saffron with 16mm.
Vir Chakra has been popularly awarded to a number of people every year. Notable among them are Naik Gulab Simngh Yadav, Ajay Ahuja,Dinesh Chandra Bhandari, Kuldip Sigh Brar,Alfred Tyrone Cook, Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hedge, Denzil Keelor, Trevor Keelor, Krishna Kant Saini, Muhhamad Ahmed Zaki, Satish Nambiar, Arun Prakash, Jerry Prem Raj, Rashik Khan, Shish Ram Gill, Lakshmi Narayan Ramdas, Zafar Ali Shah, Harbaksh Singh, Subedar Randhir Singh, Sunil Khokar, Vijayant Thappar, Gopal Krishna Trivedi, Haneef Uddin ,and Zoravar Chand Bakshi. The Government of India entrusts cash allowance and in some cases a lump sum amount of money. From 1 February 1999 Government of India set an amount of 850 per month for the recipients of the award. Along with this many states have established individual ppensions and awards for the recipients of Vir Chakra.
Overall Vir Chakra is one the most honorary decoration which is received separately by Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force which has been most encouraging for the young soldiers who try to achieve this.
