Medals

The medals of Animal Farm originated as a spontaneous military decoration created in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Cowshed. The animals unanimously decided to institute 'Animal Hero, First Class,' which was conferred on Snowball and Boxer. The medal consisted of a brass emblem, actually an old horse-brass found in the harness-room, to be worn on Sundays and holidays. A second class, 'Animal Hero, Second Class,' was awarded posthumously to the sheep killed in the battle. These decorations were a genuine expression of collective gratitude and revolutionary idealism, representing the principles of courage and sacrifice that the animals had fought for.

Napoleon soon transformed the medals into instruments of personal power and political theatre. After consolidating his rule, he awarded himself both the First and Second Class medals. He appeared wearing them during the assembly that preceded the mass executions of the four pigs and other animals, flanked by his nine huge dogs, as the animals cowered silently in their places. The dogs had tasted blood and appeared to go mad. The medals, originally symbols of heroic selflessness, now glittered on the dictator as he presided over a display of terror. The honors had been perverted: they were no longer rewards for bravery but badges of absolute authority, used to intimidate the very animals who had once earned them.

The trajectory of self-aggrandizement reached its peak after the Battle of the Windmill. Napoleon created a new decoration, the Order of the Green Banner, and conferred it on himself. The battle was named after the windmill, and the celebrations included songs, speeches, and the firing of the gun. Napoleon himself walked at the head of the funeral procession for the slain animals, wearing his medals. The new medal was another layer of personal glorification, as Napoleon now monopolized the entire system of honors. The original medals had been awarded to others; now all decorations flowed back to the leader. The medals, like the flag and the gun, had become props in a cult of personality that had completely inverted the egalitarian ideals of the Rebellion.