Purple Heart Day
"On [August 7, 1782], General George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit. Congress had put a moratorium on promotions in the Continental Army due to a lack of funds; the commander-in-chief created the award as a way to honor enlisted men deserving of recognition.
The award (which had the side benefit of allowing the recipient to pass guards as if a commissioned officer) was “a figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding.”
After the Revolution, though, the award was all but forgotten until Douglas MacArthur revived it in 1932 when he was Chief of Staff of the Army.
He changed its name to the Purple Heart and expanded its scope to include receiving wounds as a result of enemy action.
(Joseph Craig, Association of the United States Army, 2018.)"