Awarded for acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy.

Provision was made for the award of a bar for a second award of the Vir Chakra, with the first three awards of such a bar coming in 1948. The ten known awards of bars are: Subadar Har Singh (10 December 1947 and 4 March 1948), Risaldar Kartar Singh (8 February 1948 and 1 November 1948), Subadar Major Bhim Chand (23 August 1948 and 27 December 1948), Major General Venkatapathy Rangaswami (20 May 1948 and 29 March 1951), Air Commodore Anthony Ignatius Kenneth Suares (26 January 1950 and 6 December 1961), Group Captain Puroshotam Lal Dhawan (26 January 1950 and October 1962), Lieutenant Colonel Satish Chandra Joshi (14 June 1948 and 10 September 1965 [posthumous]), Wing Commander Vinod Kumar Bhatia (8 September 1965 and December 1971), Squadron Leader Vinod Kumar Neb (6 September 1965 and 4 December 1971), and Air Commodore Bhupendra Kumar Bishnoi (7 September 1965 and 14 December 1971),.

Award of the decoration carried with it the right to use Vr.C. as a postnominal abbreviation (note the care to distinguish this abbreviation from that for the Victoria Cross [V.C.]).

The award carries with it a cash allowance and, in some cases, a lump sum cash award. This has been a rather controversial issue throughout the life of the decoration. From 1 February 1999, the central government set a monthly stipend of Rs. 850 for recipients of the award. In addition, many states have established individual pension rewards for the recipients of the decoration.

Established: Established by the President of India on 26 January 1950 (with effect from 15 August 1947). The statutes were amended 12 January 1952 to readjust the order of wearing as new decorations were established.