It was awarded "to a servicebeing who performs an action of extraordinary heroism, in the face of the enemy, at the risk of death, above and beyond the call of duty". It was theoretically second in prestige to the never-awarded Crown of Deliverance, but as the rarest of all decorations which had actually been awarded and the highest which specifically required personal valor, it carried enormous honor in the Glorious Armada of the Golden Empire.