Governor General Michaelle Jean unveiled the design of a new Canadian Victoria Cross -- the highest possible honour for bravery in combat -- at a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Friday.

Until recently, the red ribbon and bronze alloy cross was only minted in Britain and awarded to Canadians by the Queen for the most outstanding acts of bravery, greatest acts of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of an enemy.

All future medals given to Canadians for their services in battle will now be minted and presented in this country.

"I think the person who wins it will feel a little better with his own country declaring him," Cliff Chadderton, chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations, told CTV.

"It means the battle in which he won it would also become part of history and well-known to everyone," he said.

Though the cross remains faithful to its original 1856 British design commissioned by Queen Victoria, it has been modified with distinctly Canadian features such as fleurs de lis, elements from the 1867 Confederation decoration, and uses metals from each region in Canada.

"Today the Victoria Cross becomes fully, truly Canadian," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday at the unveiling in Ottawa.

Harper explained why the Latin translation "Pro Valore" replaced its English version "For Valour."

"We are using the ancient language employed by our English and French ancestors to express the universal ideal that they shared," Harper said.

Private Shane Dolmovic, who has been recognized with other awards for his efforts on the battlefield in Afghanistan, said the Victoria Cross medal is even more special since becoming 100 per cent Canadian.

"So much pride goes into what (soldiers) do and with so much support from home, it brings everything together. It's just great," Dolmovic said.

"Everyday, in military missions at home and abroad, Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen are putting their lives on the line for us," Harper said.

"Someday, somewhere, one of those men or women will do something so brave, so gallant, so exceptional, that he or she will join the legendary cadre of the Canadian Forces who wear the pride of a nation on their chests."

Of the 1,353 crosses awarded since 1856, 94 have been awarded to members of the Canadian military.

The last Canadian to earn the Victoria Cross was Hampton Gray, a Canadian navy pilot who was honoured after sinking a Japanese destroyer in the Second World War.

The last surviving Canadian holder of the Victoria Cross, Second World War veteran Ernest (Smokey) Smith, died in 2005.