Welcome back to the Deep Dive. We're really glad
you can join us today. Absolutely. It's great
to be here. If you're anything like me, you probably
walk past statues or monuments or maybe you just
look at old photographs of people in uniform
and you see these little ribbons and pieces of
metal pinned to their chests. Right, the decorations.
Yeah, exactly. And we usually just glance right
past them. We register them vaguely as military
honors and just move on. But today, we are going
on a mission custom -tailored just for you. We're
going to explore how a nation actually immortalizes
its absolute highest ideals of bravery into a
single wearable object. It is a really fascinating
concept when you stop and really think about
it. A country's highest honors act as a mirror
to its deepest values. They aren't just jewelry.
They tell us exactly what that society considers
to be the ultimate sacrifice. the pinnacle of
human character and what actions it wants its
citizens to aspire to. Exactly. And today, we're
focusing on one very specific award, the Gold
Star Medal of Azerbaijan. Natively, it's known
as the Kajal Ulduz Medal. And as I was digging
into the source material, the history and the
design of this specific honor, I realized we
aren't just looking at a dry list of dates and
dimensions here. We're looking at the literal,
physical weight of heroism. We're going to explore
the surprising inclusivity of who can actually
receive this award and the rather meticulous
evolution of its design over time. And that design
evolution is key to understanding the medal's
significance. Medals are highly intentional objects.
Every millimeter, every material choice, and
every change in a governmental decree reflects
a shift in institutional priority. It is rarely
just an aesthetic update. It's a statement of
national identity. Okay, let's unpack this by
starting at the very beginning. The historical
foundation of this medal is remarkably precise.
It was established on March 25, 1992. Which is
very early on. It is. This was done under Decree
No. 201 by the former president of Azerbaijan,
Abulfaz Elchevi. And what really stood out to
me is that they did not wait long at all to start
recognizing people. The very first award was
handed out shortly after, on June 7, 1992. It's
important to keep that 1992 timeline in mind.
We're talking about a period of profound definition
for the republic. When a nation establishes an
award like this, especially that early, it is
setting a cornerstone for its modern identity.
Right. Establishing the ground rules. Exactly.
Establishing the parameters of what makes someone
a national hero is one of the ways a country
defines itself, not just. internally to its own
citizens, but externally on the world stage.
They are essentially writing their own definition
of courage. And the criteria they laid out for
this courage are intense. You earn this award
for bravery and courage shown in dissents of
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
the Republic of Azerbaijan. Yeah. Now, on its
face, that sounds like a fairly standard, albeit
incredibly serious, military honor. You defend
the borders. You defend the sovereignty. You
are recognized. What's fascinating here is the
secondary piece of those criteria. The official
parameters explicitly state that it is also awarded
for the protection of the world population or,
as it's often translated, the protection of the
civil population. And that feels like a massive
distinction. It absolutely is. Think about what
that phrasing does to the nature of the award.
It fundamentally shifts the focus of the medal
from being a purely military decoration focused
on territorial lines on a map to an award that
encompasses deeply humanitarian protection. Wow.
Yeah. It elevates the concept of defending a
nation state to the much broader, much more universal
concept of protecting human life itself. That
distinction really changes how you view the people
wearing it. It's not just about guarding sovereignty.
It's about guarding the people themselves. And
that actually leads perfectly into the eligibility
for the Gold Star Medal. Because if the criteria
are that broad, you might wonder who actually
qualifies to receive it. You'd naturally assume
it's just generals and combat soldiers. Exactly.
You might expect an honor of this magnitude to
be strictly military, locked away in those upper
ranks. But the eligibility is remarkably broad.
It includes the Azerbaijani government's civilian
personnel and even standard everyday citizens.
Which, again, reinforces that humanitarian aspect
we just talked about. Bravery is not confined
to those in a military uniform. A civilian stepping
up in a moment of extreme crisis to protect the
population is recognized at the exact same level
with the exact same honor as a soldier defending
the sovereignty of the nation in combat. Here's
where it gets really interesting. This medal.
the absolute highest honor designating a national
hero of Azerbaijan, can actually be awarded to
Nong citizens. Yes. It is officially open to
foreign civilians. I want you listening right
now to just pause and imagine that scenario.
Imagine what a foreign civilian, someone with
no passport from this nation, no civic obligation
to this country, no sworn duty would have to
do to be officially declared a national hero
of Azerbaijan. It's a staggering thought. What
level of risk, what level of selfless action
would compel a government to bestow its highest
national honor on someone who isn't even a citizen?
Exactly. It really is. I want to pivot from the
sweeping philosophy of the award to the actual
physical object itself, because the records go
into incredible detail about the anatomy of this
metal, and it has actually changed significantly
over time. I want to try and paint a picture
of this in your mind so you can really visualize
it. Imagine holding this in the palm of your
hand right now. It helps to visualize it piece
by piece to really understand the craftsmanship
and the specific aesthetic choices involved.
It's not just a chunk of metal. Right. Let's
start with the original iteration of the metal,
which was known as the Aoldus, or crescent and
star metal. It featured a gold -filled crescent
that faced to the right, and tightly enclosed
within that crescent was an eight -pointed star.
Now, the rays of this star weren't just flat,
two -dimensional lines stamped out of metal.
They were flat, dihedral rays on the front face.
And for those trying to picture a dihedral ray,
imagine a tiny pitched roof. It means the rays
of the star aren't just flat cutouts. They have
a raised ridge down the middle, an angle. So
they catch the ambient light from multiple directions
in a very deliberate way. It gives the star a
brilliant three -dimensional presence. That's
a great way to describe it. It's designed to
shine, to catch your eye instantly. And the reverse
side of that original metal was just as meticulously
planned out. It had a perfectly flat surface
and is bound with a thin fillet. Yeah, if you're
wondering what a fillet is in this context, think
of a tiny raised rim going right along the edge
of the cutout, much like the raised edge on a
coin you'd find in your pocket. On that rear
side, perfectly centered, there was an inscription
reading, National Hero of Azerbaijan. But the
star itself is only half the object. The mechanics
of how it was worn are also highly detailed.
Metals of this stature have an entire suspension
system to attach them to the uniform. Yes. There
were two tiny, one -millimeter shapes on the
upper edge of the metal itself. A ring connected
that gold crescent to four connected rhomboids.
And these rhomboids were then attached to a gold
-filled pentagonal plate. That pentagonal plate
is a classic design element. You see it in many
Eurasian state honors. It serves as a rigid backing
for the ribbon, giving the entire metal a sharp,
formal, geometric presence when it's pinned to
a lapel or a uniform jacket. And the ribbon covering
that plate is crucial to the whole look. The
plate had two slits found on the sides of the
block, and it was mostly covered with a tricolor
moray ribbon. If you haven't seen a moiré ribbon,
it has that beautiful, wavy, watered silk appearance
that catches the light almost like a hologram.
It's very distinctive. Very. And the colors of
that ribbon precisely match the blue, red, and
green of the Azerbaijani flag. But of all these
meticulous details, here's the one that absolutely
fascinated me the most. The total weight of this
original arrangement. With the gold crescent,
the star, the plate, and the ribbon, it weighed
exactly 21 .5 grams. 21 .5 grams. To put that
physical weight in perspective for you, that
is roughly the weight of four standard U .S.
quarters. It is remarkably, almost surprisingly,
light in your hand. That's exactly it. Four quarters.
You could drop that in your pocket, walk around
all day, and completely forget it's even there.
It's nothing. Yet metaphorically, that 21 .5
grams carries the absolute heaviest weight a
nation can place upon a person's shoulders. The
immense gratitude of an entire country, the recognition
of ultimate selfless bravery, all literally forged
into a mere 21 .5 grams of gold and silk ribbon.
It is a brilliant juxtaposition. You have the
physical lightness of the object contrasting
against the monumental heavy gravity of what
it represents. But that original A. Old Dew's
design, that Crescenton Star, wasn't the final
version of the honor. The aesthetic of the nation's
highest award evolved. Modifications and additions
were made to the original parameters under a
new decree, Decree No. 429. This was done to
officially commemorate a national hero of Azerbaijan
in a slightly different, updated form. Right.
The evolution from the Ilduz to the current form,
which is simply known as the Kizil Ilduz Medal
or the Gold Star. So let's visualize the current,
modernized version. It actually moved away from
the crescent enclosure completely. The Kizil
Ilduz Medal is now a prominent, stand -alone,
eight -pointed star. It retains those same flat
dihedral rays, that pitched roof design that
catches the light, but it is now a larger 31
.5 millimeter diameter star. A bit more substantial.
Yeah. It's still attached to a pentagonal plate,
which is bordered by a precise filly along the
perimeter, and it's equipped with two eye rings
for suspension. And the ribbon remains a central
defining feature. The inner side of that pentagonal
plate is covered with that same beautiful moiré
ribbon, again proudly corresponding to the tricolor
of the Azerbaijani flag. It maintains that visual
link to the nation's core identity. There was
also a notable update to the reverse side of
the medal. The inscription on the back was updated
to the native language. So in the center of the
rear side of the current star, it proudly reads,
The linguistic records even preserve the exact
phonetic pronunciation for the metal's name.
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, it's
roughly pronounced, That's a wonderful detail.
It really is. The historical and institutional
record preserves not just the physical look and
dimensions of the metal, but the exact sound
of its name in its native tongue. It roots the
object deeply in the culture. And where this
physical object rests on the human body is strictly
regulated by protocol. Pinned over the heart,
right at the top. Exactly. And placing it physically
above all other decorations is the visual language
of supreme importance. It dictates a clear hierarchy.
It says that no matter what else you have achieved
in your military career or your civilian life,
no matter what other honors or commendations
you have collected over decades of service, this
specific act heroism, this 31 .5 millimeter star
is the absolute pinnacle of your service to the
nation. It visually outranks everything else
on your uniform. That visual hierarchy is so
incredibly powerful. And speaking of hierarchy.
I think we have to pull back and look at the
broader ecosystem of honors within the country
to really contextualize where the gold star sits.
Yeah. Because when you look at the full list
of Azerbaijani orders and medals, you realize
it is a massive, highly structured system. Context
is everything with state honors. You cannot fully
understand the profound value of one award without
seeing the landscape of all the others. It's
an ecosystem of values. So what does this all
mean? Well, I was looking at the official table
of precedence, assuming that the Gold Star Medal,
the ultimate award for a national hero, would
be at the absolute undisputed top of the list.
Number one, without question. Actually, you would
think so. But it's actually not. In the official
hierarchy, the Gold Star Medal sits just below
the hero of the Patriotic War Medal. That is
a critical piece of institutional structure,
and it's quite revealing. It tells us that while
the general national hero designation is extraordinarily
high, there is a specific context -bound medal,
the hero of the patriotic war, that takes ultimate
superseding precedence. It shows how massive
historical events and specific conflicts shape
the literal formalized ranking of a nation's
values. Sometimes a specific historical moment
is so defining that its corresponding honor outranks
even the highest general commendations. And when
you look at the rest of the medals in that hierarchy,
it's like reading a rich, complex tapestry of
the nation's history. Major civil and military
orders like the Daslag Order, the Karabakh Order,
and the Shah Ismail Order. But the specific metal
section is where it gets incredibly granular.
Granular is the perfect word. The specific metals
serve as a geographical and chronological map
of the country's priorities, its struggles, and
its foundational institutions over time. Right.
For example, you have the four -faultless service
metal. which is a classic, universally understood
military recognition of longevity, discipline,
and keeping your nose clean over a long career.
You have the Brave Warrior Medal, the Four Distinction
and Battle Medal, the Four Heroism Medal. Those
are broad, action -based commendations. But then
you hit this astonishing list of highly specific
liberation medals. And I'm just going to read
a few of them so you can really get a sense of
this focus. There is the medal for the liberation
of Agdam, the medal for the liberation of Fizuli,
Guguli, Jebrail, Kalbajar. And you can see it.
Just by the sheer volume of these, Kojovin, Lagarn,
Shusha, Sugavushan, Zangilan, it goes on. Exactly.
It's an incredibly extensive list. If we connect
this to the bigger picture, you can essentially
read the modern history of Azerbaijan just by
looking at this list of honors. Each of those
liberation medals you just named represents a
highly specific localized campaign. By minting
a unique, distinct metal for each individual
region or town, the state is permanently linking
the overarching abstract concept of national
defense to these very real, specific pieces of
earth. They are immortalizing the geography into
the state's highest honors. It grounds the abstract
idea of sovereignty into literal dirt and stone.
You didn't just fight for the country, you fought
for this specific town. And it's not just geography
that they memorialize. It's also deep institutional
memory. The list of medals includes honors like
the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani police,
the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University 100th
anniversary medal, the Baku State University
100th anniversary medal. It even includes the
100th anniversary of the diplomatic service bodies
and the Azerbaijani Army 100th anniversary medal.
What you are seeing in those anniversary medals
is profound institutional pride. When a relatively
young modern nation issues formalized medals
to commemorate the centennials of its police
force, its army, its diplomatic corps, and its
universities, it is aggressively cementing the
legitimacy and the longevity of its civil society.
It is a way of communicating to the world and
to its own people, we are not just a nation defined
by defense and conflict, we are a nation of enduring
century -old institutions. That's a brilliant
way to look at it. And the Gold Star Medal, the
Cajal Deuce, exists within... this massive, complex,
highly structured ecosystem. It floats near the
very top of a sea of honors that recognize everything
from 100 years of university teaching to the
specific liberation of a single town. It takes
a remarkable transcendent act of courage, whether
by an everyday citizen, a soldier, or even a
foreign civilian, to rise through that intricate
hierarchy and be awarded the gold star. Which
ultimately brings us back to the human element
of all this. The decrees, the specific millimeters
of the star, the dihedral rays, the 21 .5 grams
of weight, those are just the physical manifestations.
They are the artifacts. But the true core of
what we are looking at today is about the flesh
and blood people who actually wear them. Absolutely.
We've gone on quite a journey today, unpacking
how a nation translates its highest ideals of
gratitude and courage into a tangible physical
object. We've seen how a piece of gold shaped
into an eight -pointed star and hung from a tricolor
moiré ribbon can carry the ultimate weight of
a society's respect. We've learned that this
recognition isn't closed off behind borders or
passports, but is remarkably, beautifully accessible
even to foreign civilians who risk everything
to protect others. It really is a testament to
the idea that true courage is a universal language
that any nation can recognize. This raises an
important question, and it's tied to one tiny,
almost easily missed, but profoundly moving detail
mentioned in the official design parameters of
the current metal. It is noted that a serial
number is etched directly onto the upper ray
of the reverse side of the star. Just a simple
serial number. Yes. It is so easy to talk about
this metal as an abstract concept, as a piece
of statecraft or historical trivia. But that
serial number reminds us that this is a tangible,
finite reality. Somewhere out there, there is
an exact, specific number of these heroes walking
around in the world. Each one carries a unique,
sequential number etched permanently into the
gold they wear over their hearts. And it leaves
you to ponder the hidden, deeply human element
of that detail. Knowing that somewhere out there,
walking among us, there is an exact, finite group
of people who earned this. And someone out there
bears the incredibly heavy, unseen, and profound
burden of wearing gold star medal number one.
What a thought to end on. to know that somewhere,
that very first serial number exists, quietly
carrying the weight of an entire nation's gratitude
and legacy of 1992. We hope this deep dive gave
you a new perspective on the history, the design,
and the immense humanity hidden behind the medals
we so rarely look closely at. Thank you so much
for joining us, for being curious, and as always,
keep learning.