Order of St. George

For other uses, see Order of St. George (disambiguation).

Order of St. George
The Order of St. George IV class
Awarded by Russian Federation
Type	Military Order
Eligibility	Top and Senior Military Officers
Awarded for	For Distinction in Combat
Status	Active
Statistics
Established	November 26, 1769, revived on March 20, 1992
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle
Next (lower)	Order For Merit to the Fatherland
Ribbon of the Order of St. George IV class

The Order of Saint George (Russian: Орден «Святого Георгия») is the highest purely military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established November 26, 1769 by Empress Catherine the Great it was revived on August 8, 2000 by Decree №1463 of the President of Russia. The award criteria were amended on September 7, 2010 by Presidential Decree 1099.

Statute of the Order

The Order of Saint George is awarded to top and senior military officers for the conduct of military operations to protect the Fatherland in the case of attack by an external enemy which resulted in the complete defeat of the enemy, for the execution of combat and other operations in other states aimed at restoring international peace and security, for being a model of military science with feats that exemplify military prowess, and who were previously awarded state awards of the Russian Federation for distinction in combat.

Description of the Order

The Order of Saint George is divided into four classes, from the First Class to the Fourth class; the highest degree being the Order First class. The four classes are awarded sequentially from the fourth to the first. These four classes are individually identified by the size and manner of wearing the two principal insignia of the Order, the cross and the star.

Proper wear of the Order of St George insignia 4th class at left to first class at right

Order of St George II class, neck badge and breast star

Order of St George first class Breast Star and Sash

Cross: A white enamelled cross pattée with a central medallion bearing the image of St. George on horseback slaying the dragon. The cross measures 60mm across in the case of the Order first class and is worn on a sash in the colours of St George (orange and black). The same 60mm cross is worn around the neck on a 45mm wide ribbon also in the colours of St George for the Order second class. The cross is 50mm across for the Order third class and is also worn around the neck but from a 24mm wide ribbon in the same colours. The Order fourth class is a 40mm cross worn on the left breast hanging from a pentagonal mount covered with a 24mm wide ribbon of St George. Star: A four-pointed silver gilt star with a gold central medallion bearing the cipher of St. George "SG" topped by a crown and surrounded by a black enamelled band bearing the motto of the order "For Service and Bravery" ("Za Sluzhbu i Khrabrost"). The star is worn on the left breast for both the Order first and second classes. Ribbon: The ribbon of the Order of St George is orange with three black stripes, commonly called "George's Ribbon". It symbolises fire and gunpowder: the Russian "colors of military glory", and is also thought to be derived from the colours of the original Russian imperial coat of arms (black eagle on a golden background). It was subsequently associated to the colors of the Russian Guard units.

The ribbon bar for the Order first class is adorned with a miniature golden star.

The ribbon bar for the Order second class is adorned with a miniature silver star.

The ribbon bar for the Order third class is adorned with a miniature white cross.

The ribbon bar for the Order fourth class has no device.

Recipients (partial list)

Lt. Col. Lebed, Hero of Russia, Knight of the Order of St. George 4th class and 3 time recipient of the Order of Courage, greeting Russian President Medvedev. Lt. Col. Lebed is also a recipient of the Soviet Order "For Service To The Homeland In The Armed Forces" 3rd class and of 3 Orders of the Red Star

Recipients of the Order second class

• General of the Army Nikolay Yegorovich Makarov
• Colonel General Alexander Zelin
• General of the Army Vladimir Boldyrev

Recipients of the Order fourth class

• Colonel General Sergei Makarov
• Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov
• Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Lebed

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
• Cross of St. George
• Ribbon of Saint George

Further reading

• Voennyĭ orden sviatogo velikomuchenika i pobedonostsa Georgiia: imennye spiski 1769 - 1920; biobibliograficheskiĭ spravochnik / otvetstvennyĭ sostavitel' V. M. Shabanov. Moskva 2004, ISBN 5-89577-059-2

External links

• The Commission on State Awards to the President of the Russian Federation
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Orders of St. George". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13350a.htm.