The objectives of this social-historical study are to describe the ceremony involving the bestowment of the campaign medal of honor to nurses working in the health service of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force during World War II, and to analyze the effect of this symbolic ritual as a social recognition of these nurses. The examination of the documentary corpus was performed by the analysis of a photograph, and the related documents and bibliography that were produced in the same context in which the primary source was created. The findings were elucidated by Pierre Bourdieu 's World Social Theory. The study confirmed that the existence of these nurses within a misogynist society to receive a Medal of Honor consolidated their presence in a public arena occupied traditionally by men, contributing in this manner, to unveil and promote the image of the military nurses.
History of Nursing; Military Nursing; Emblems and Insignia
