Establishment of the Badge of Military Merit
- When
- 7 August 1782
- Where
- Washington's headquarters at Newburgh, New York
Washington created the Badge of Military Merit by order from his Newburgh headquarters on 7 August 1782, authorizing subordinate officers to issue it.
The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was established by George Washington, then commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, by order from his Newburgh, New York, headquarters on 7 August 1782. The badge took the form of a heart made of purple cloth. Washington authorized his subordinate officers to issue Badges of Merit as appropriate, but the badge was awarded to only three Revolutionary War soldiers, all by Washington himself.
Sources
- Purple Heart Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.