Ordinance of the Presidium of the CEC of the Union of the SSR of May 5, 1930 y. (Code of Laws of the USSR 1930 y. #26, art. 289)

The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Union of the SSR in accordance with art. 5* of the General Regulations about orders of the Union of the SSR decrees:

Approve the following statute of the order "Order of Lenin":

1. The order "Order of Lenin" is awarded to individuals, collectives, institutions, enterprises and voluntary organisations of the Union of the SSR for promoting the acceleration of socialist construction:

a) for activity which results in outstanding quantitative and qualitative achievements in industry, agriculture, transport, commodity circulation, state and co-operative procurements;

b) for special success in the organisation of collective farms, State farms and co-operatives;

c) for outstanding experimental economic work;

d) for introducing technical improvements which have State importance in industrial or agricultural production, transportation and for outstanding inventions in these spheres;

e) for outstandingly putting into effect special tasks which have special State importance in industry, agriculture, trade, defence, transport and co-operation;

f) for outstanding scientific research work in the sphere of the construction of socialism;

g) for new house-building in towns and rural areas which have outstanding artistic merit and social significance.

2. The order "Order of Lenin" is the badge representing the portrait-medallion of V. I. Lenin, enclosed in a circle, which is framed by a wreath of rye ears. There are plants, factories and a tractor in the background of the portrait-medallion of V. I. Lenin. They are symbols of the industrialisation of the USSR, the reconstruction and the collectivisation of agriculture. There is a golden hammer and sickle in the upper part of the wreath. Golden letters "USSR" are in the low part of the wreath. (Original editing - "Proceedings of the CEC of the USSR and the AREC" *** (of May 6, 1930)

((2 "Order of Lenin" is the badge representing the portrait-medallion of V. I. Lenin, enclosed in a circle, which is framed by a gold wreath of rye ears, with a red five-pointed star on the left side of the wreath, a hammer and sickle below it, with a representation of a red banner with the superscription "Lenin" in it to the right in the upper part of the wreath. (In the editing of the ordinance of the CEC of the Union of the SSR from 27th of September 1934 y. - (Code of Laws of the USSR 1934 y. #49, art. 382).))

3. The order "Order of Lenin" could be conferred after recommendation for award of the decoration made by departments, national scientific institutions and institutions of the arts, national agencies of voluntary organisations.

4. For the investiture with an order "Order of Lenin" the latter should be sent to the department, institution or organisation which has recommended someone for award of the decoration.

7. It is the duty of those awarded with an order "Order of Lenin" to wear it at sittings of congresses of the soviets, at sessions of the Central Executive Committee of the Union of the SSR, at official parades, revolutionary festivities and ceremonial meetings.

8. The order "Order of Lenin" which has been awarded to a collective is attached to the banner of this collective.

12. The bearer of the order "Order of Lenin" is obliged:

a) to assist in the construction of Socialism, to take active part in socialist emulation, in shock-working sections, brigades, teams and the like;

b) to do active social work in soviet voluntary organisations which are connected with the basic activity of the bearer, and;

c) to take an active part in special campaigns which are connected with the basic activity of the bearer.

13. Decrees of the Central Executive Committee of the Union of the SSR and of it's Presidium about awarding with the order "Order of Lenin" and about the deprivation of this order are published in the official organ of the press "Proceedings of the CEC of the USSR and the AREC". ***

The chairman of the SEC of the Union of the SSR, M. Kalinin.
The secretary of the SEC of the Union of the SSR A. Yenukidze.
Moscow-Kremlin. 5 May 1930 y.

* Art. 5 corresponds with art. 6 of the new editing of the General regulations about orders of the Union of the SSR (Code of Laws of the USSR 1936 y. # 24, art. 220-b).
*** "Izvestia of the CEC of the USSR and the AREC"

The project of establishing such an order was proposed by V. N. Levichev, the head of the Chief Administration of the Workers and Peasants Red Army on July 8, 1926. The draft name was "The Order of Ilyich" (after Lenin's Patronymic). The Order of Lenin was instituted by the ordinance of the CEC of the USSR of April 4, 1930. The statute of the order was approved on May 5, 1930.

Order number 1 was awarded on May 23, 1930 to the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda for promoting the acceleration of socialist construction (on the day of the 5th anniversary of the newspaper). The initial version of the badge of the Order of Lenin did not have representations of the red banner and the red star - the main Soviet symbols. For this reason, the making of badges of this type was discontinued in November 1931. Then the new version of the order had appeared. During the thirties all the orders of the "old" type were changed for new ones

The first Order of Lenin awarded for military merits was to Roman Panchenko. A Red Army soldier of the 11th Horezm regiment and was awarded it for participating in battles against basmachi (anti--Soviet insurgents in Central Asia) in the spring of 1933.

95 people were awarded it for battles near the lake of Hasan (ordinance of October 25, 1938).

All Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Socialist Labour were also awarded with an Order of Lenin.

Before the Patriotic War more than 6,500 people had become bearers of the order (Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of the Socialist Labour included). Most famous of them were so-called stachanovcy (By claim of the official propaganda, miner Stachanov had over-fulfilled the daily plan of production many times). Many collective awards were given too. For example, to oil-producing associations "Azneft" and "Grozneft"; to tractor works in Stalingrad, Kharkov and Chelyabinsk; to motor-car factories in Minsk and Gorky.

During the Patriotic War more than 41,000 servicemen and civilians received this award (207 awards to military units were also given).

Almost every leader of the Soviet Union were awarded with the Order of Lenin and also some Communists from other countries. For example, Georgly Dimitrov (Bulgaria), Ho Chi Min (Vietnam), Guskav Gusak (Czechoslovakia), Dolores Ibarruri (an émigré from Spain), Janus Kadar (Hungary), Walter Ulbricht (German Democratic Republic) and others. All the republics of the Soviet Union were awarded with Orders of Lenin (Kazahstan was the first - in 1956, for opening up of virgin lands there).

FOR THE OUTSTANDING SERVICES THE WORKING PEOPLE OF MOSCOW HAVE RENDERED OUR COUNTRY, FOR THE COURAGE AND HEROISM THEY DISPLAYED, IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE GERMAN INVADERS, FOR THE SUCCESSES THEY HAVE ACHIEVED IN DEVELOPING INDUSTRY AND CULTURE AND IN CARRYING OUT THE GENERAL PLAN OF RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CITY, AND ON THE OCCASION OF THE 800 TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CITY OF MOSCOW, THE ORDER OF LENIN IS CONFERRED ON MOSCOW, THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS.

Signed: President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U S.S.R. N. Shvernik
Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. A. Gorkin
7 September 1947