Order of the Iron Knight

The Order of the Iron Knight (Ордэн Жалезнага рыцара; in the old orthography, Зяленга Рыцара) is the highest military award of the Council of the Belarusian People’s Republic and one of the awards of the National Awards System of Belarus (democratic forces). It is intended to recognize military personnel for outstanding military and combat merits. It was established on 1 September 1949 by a decree of the Chairman of the Council of the BNR, Mikola Abramchyk. It was reinstated with approval of a new edition of its statute in 2023.

The Order is the successor to the historical military order Virtuti Militari, which was established in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1792.