Following the 1949 establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the new state prohibited the wearing of all pre-1945 German decorations and created a new system of awards inspired in part by those of the USSR. After German reunification in 1990, former NVA Soldiers transferring into the new unified Bundeswehr could wear NVA award but list of approved East German decorations were limited and in the eyes of the new Bundeswehr fell under regulations for "foreign decorations". Awards associated with some state agencies or Communist organizations were considered to be in breach of public order and not allowed to be worn. Those were such as decorations issued by the Ministry for State Security, Border troops, Volkspolizei, Combat Groups, GST and the FDJ. In total, there were 142 state decorations and medals and over 10.000 by non-state mass organisations. Every GDR citizen received on average ten awards in their lifetime. The inflationary use of awards increased from the 1970s onwards, most even mid-level Socialist Unity Party functionaries receiving multiple variants of the same award.

Honorary titles

State prizes

State orders

State medals

Military and para-military decorations

Civilian decorations

Ministerial and associative awards

Ministry of National Defence

Ministry of Education

Combat Groups of the Working Class of the GDR

Society for Sports and Technology

Free German Youth Society

These were awarded to Free German Youth (F.D.J.) members;

Socialist Unity Party

These were conferred by the Socialist Unity Party (S.E.D.);