Order of St. George

Order of St. George
The Order of Saint George is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commissioned officers and generals by Empress Catherine the Great. After the October Revolution in 1917, it was awarded by the White movement under Alexander Kolchak until their collapse in 1921. The order was revived in the Russian Federation on 20 March 1992 by Decree №1463 of the President of Russia. The current award criteria were amended on 7 September 2010 by Presidential Decree 1099.
Statute of the Order of St. George
The current Order of Saint George is awarded to highest and senior military officers for the conduct of military operations to protect the Motherland from 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, or for being a model of military science with feats that exemplify military prowess; the Order is also conferred upon officers who were previously awarded state awards of the Russian Federation for distinction in combat.
Description
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.
Cross: A white enamelled cross pattée with a central medallion bearing the image of Saint 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 Saint George (orange and black). The same 60mm cross is worn around the neck on a 45mm wide ribbon also in the colours of Saint 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 Saint George.
Star: A four-pointed silver gilt star with a gold central medallion bearing the cipher of Saint 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 Saint George is orange with three black stripes, commonly called "George's Ribbon". It symbolises fire and gunpowder: the Russian colours 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 with the colors of the Russian and Soviet Guard units. Unlike the other classes, the Order of Saint George fourth class can be awarded to junior officers while the rest is for senior and flag officers.
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)
Recipients of the Order first class
25 people were ever awarded The First class cross, one should be a King or win a war to receive it. The full list goes as follows in timeline order:
Catherine the Great
Pyotr Rumyantsev
Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov
Petr Ivanovich Panin
Vasily Dolgorukov-Krymsky
Grigory Potemkin
Alexander Suvorov
Vasily Chichagov
Nikolai Vasilyeich Repnin
Mikhail Kutuzov
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly
King Charles XIV John of Sweden
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Levin August von Bennigsen
Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême
Ivan Paskevich
Hans Karl von Diebitsch
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
Alexander II of Russia
William I, German Emperor
Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia
Recipients of the Order second class
For The Second class one should win a Campaign. The first recipient was Lieutenant-General Plemyannikov for the Battle of Kagul, the last of 124 or 125, depending on sources, was either Nikolai Yudenich or Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch.
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)
Admiral of the Russian Empire Fyodor Ushakov
Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Mikhail Kutuzov
Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Barclay de Tolly
General of the Army Nikolay Yegorovich Makarov
Colonel General Alexander Zelin
General of the Army Vladimir Boldyrev
Recipients of the Order third class
King Leopold I of Belgium.
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)
Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Mikhail Kutuzov
Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Barclay de Tolly
General Alexei Brusilov
General Yevgeni Iskritsky
General Samad bey Mehmandarov
General of the Army Sergey Surovikin
Private George Phillips (Newfoundland Regiment) Beaumont Hamel
Recipients of the Order fourth class
Nicholas II of Russia
General Alexei Brusilov
General Yevgeni Iskritsky
Vladimir Gittis, Imperial colonel and Red Army general
Colonel Lambros Katsonis, Greek 18th century revolutionary
Colonel General Sergei Makarov
Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov
Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Lebed
British Captain Albert Ball, World War I fighter pilot
Dutch War Correspondent Louis Grondijs, World War I, White Army, Russian Civil War
Major General Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Imperial Russia, WWI
General Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Imperial Russia, World War I, White Army, Russian Civil War
Brigadier John Alexander Sinton, Indian Army, WWI
Field Marshal Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary
Major General Hermann Christoph Gamper, Imperial Russian cavalry commander during the Patriotic War of 1812
Sub-lieutenant Afrikan Spir (Battle of Malakoff, 1855)
Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg
Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Mikhail Kutuzov
Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Barclay de Tolly
Ilija Plamenac, vojvoda and military commander
Field Marshal Živojin Mišić
Sir John Elley, British officer in the Napoleonic Wars
Bogdan Zimonjić, Serbian Orthodox priest, vojvoda, senator and military commander
Anatoly Pepelyayev, White Russian general
Lieutenant General Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, Cossack-Buriat White Army General
Royce Coleman Dyer, Canadian Army captain
Major General Pyotr Mikhailovich Skarzhinsky
Aslan ibn Shahmardan, khan of the Gazikumukh (Kura) Khanate
2nd Lieutenant Vladimir Kotlinsky, commander of the Osowiec Fortress during the Attack of the Dead Men
See also
Cross of Saint George
Gold Sword for Bravery
Ribbon of Saint George
Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
References
Further reading
Voennyĭ orden sviatogo velikomuchenika i pobedonostsa Georgiia: imennye spiski 1769 – 1920; biobibliograficheskiĭ spravochnik / otvetstvennyĭ sostavitel' V. M. Shabanov. Moskva 2004,
External links
The Commission on State Awards to the President of the Russian Federation
1769 establishments in the Russian Empire
2000 establishments in Russia
Awards established in 1769
Awards established in 2000
Orders of chivalry of the Russian Empire
Orders of chivalry of Russia
Catherine the Great