The planet Corellia, the namesake of the award
The Corellian Cross was the second highest award issued by Alliance High Command to Alliance Military personnel and was created to commemorate the vital contributions of Corellia, a Core Worlds planet, and was an interservice medal that was awarded to any military personnel for demonstrating gallantry in the field. The official citation for the awarding of the Corellian Cross stated, "Any person serving in any capacity in the military, who has distinguished themselves in action with the military, or in operations conducted with friendly foreign forces, by taking extraordinarily heroic action at the risk of life sufficient to the set the individual apart from his or her comrades."
The Corellian Cross was issued to an individual when their actions were extremely heroic and noteworthy, more so than the Illudium Star but not sufficient enough for the awarding of the Kalidor Crescent. The Corellian Cross could only be awarded once.
The decoration was issued as a medal and as a small ribbon to wear on the ribbon rack. The medal was a large cross that had a broad vertical beam and a short and thin horizontal beam made of a silvery alloy. The cross arms ended in broad crescents with their convex sides pointed outwards. A brass banshee bird was mounted on the front of the cross section of the medal with its wings outstretched and the words "Corellia" engraved at the top of the cross in the Aurebesh script.
The medal hung from a tapering, three-colored ribbon that had a thin outer red stripe, a thin middle blue stripe, and a broad central gold stripe. The small ribbon that was worn on the ribbon rack was a horizontal bar ribbon in gold with blue and red stripes on its borders.
The Corellian Cross was first created at the foundation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic in 2 BBY.
The Corellian Cross as depicted in Star Wars: X-Wing
The Corellian Cross was mentioned in the current Star Wars canon in the 2016 Fantasy Flight Games roleplaying sourcebook Lead by Example. The award originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it first appeared in Star Wars: X-Wing, a LucasArts computer game released in 1993 by Totally Games.
- Lead by Example