The Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991

The Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 is a state award which was established to honour the defenders of Latvia’s independence for the courage, selflessness and initiative they demonstrated in January and August 1991, as well as for their contribution in performing organisational and logistic activities. It is also awarded to persons who morally and materially supported participants of the Barricades of 1991.

The Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 is awarded by the Board for Awarding the Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991. The Board consists of the Speaker of the Saeima and four members of the Board invited by the Speaker. The Speaker of the Saeima is the Chairperson of the Board for Awarding the Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991. The Chairperson and members of the Board fulfil their duties without remuneration.

Currently the Board is chaired by Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the 11th Saeima. The invited Board members include Andris Jaunsleinis, Chairman of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments; Marina Kosteņecka, writer; Māris Steins, Director of the Chancellery of the Saeima; and Renārs Zaļais, Director of the Museum of the Barricades of 1991.

The Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 is a shield-shaped medal with oak leaves. The medal is 4 cm in diameter, and it depicts a lion holding a smaller shield with two crossed keys. LR 1991 is engraved above the larger shield. The number of the medal and the words Par Latviju (For Latvia) are engraved on the reverse of the medal. The medal is attached to a 30-mm-wide crimson-white-crimson ribbon. The medal set also includes a small pin (20 mm in diameter), similar in appearance to the medal, which is appropriate for daily use.

Together with the medal, recipients receive a certificate which is signed by the Chairperson and members of the Board for Awarding the Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 and which bears the seal of the Board. The certificate includes the number of the medal and the decision of the Board according to which the medal is awarded. The first medal was awarded on 20 January 1996, and so far more than 30,000 participants of the Barricades of 1991 have received this medal.

The procedure for awarding the medal is specified by the Law on the Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 and the Law on State Awards. On 20 December 2007, Article 2 of Transitional Provisions of the Law on State Awards was amended, by setting forth the requirement that recipients of the medal should be nominated by 31 December 2008 according to the procedure prescribed by the Law on the Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991.

The final medal was awarded in October 2011, when all nominees nominated according to the procedure set forth by the aforementioned Law had received their medals.

Awardees who for some reason have not been able to receive the Commemorative Medal for Participants of the Barricades of 1991 are asked to contact Zane Šūpulniece, Exhibition Administrator of the Museum of the Barricades of 1991, at the Museum of the Barricades of 1991 located on Krāmu iela 3 (phone: +371 67213525).

The other state awards in the Republic of Latvia are the Three-Star Order and its Medal of Honour, Order of Viesturs and its Medal of Honour, the Cross of Recognition and its Medal of Honour.