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Order of Saint George
The Order of Saint George IV class
Awarded by  Russian Federation Head of the House of Romanov
Type	Military Order
Established	November 26, 1769, revived on March 20, 1992[1][2]
Eligibility	Top and Senior Military Officers
Awarded for	Distinction in Combat
Status	Active
Classes	1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Post-nominals	GCSG; KSG; KCSG; OSG
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Saint Andrew
Next (lower)	Order For Merit to the Fatherland
Ribbon of the Order of Saint George, first class

The Order of Saint George (Russian: Орден «Святого Георгия») is today the highest purely military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established November 26, 1769 as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire by Empress Catherine the Great.^[3] After the 1917 Russian Revolution it was awarded by the White movement anti-communist forces under Alexander Kolchak until their collapse in 1921.^[4] The order was revived in the Russian Federation on August 8, 2000 by Decree №1463^[2][5] of the President of Russia. The current award criteria were amended on September 7, 2010 by Presidential Decree 1099.^[6][7]

Statute of the Order of St. George

Georgi Pulevski wearing a cross of the Order of Saint George, conferred for his part in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)

Order of Saint George, first class Breast Star and Sash

The current Order of Saint George is awarded to highest and senior military officers for the conduct of military operations to protect the Fatherland 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.^[8]

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.^[8]

Proper wear of the Order of Saint George insignia, fourth class at left to first class at right

Order of Saint George, second class, neck badge and breast 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.^[8]

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.^[8]

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 "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.^[8] 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.

Recipient Knights Grand Cross use the post-nominal letters "GCSG", Knights use the post-nominal letters "KSG", Knight Commander use the post-nominal letters "KCSG", Knight Officer use the post-nominal letters "OSG". When an individual is entitled to use multiple post-nominal letters, those of the Order of the Saint Anne appear before all others, except "Bt" or "Bart" (Baronet) when received by foreign nationals with those titles, "KA" (Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called). ^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

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

• Field Marshal of the Russian Empire Mikhail Kutuzov
  

Recipients of the Order second class

• General of the Army Nikolay Yegorovich Makarov^[14]
  


• Colonel General Alexander Zelin^[14]
  


• General of the Army Vladimir Boldyrev^[14]
  


• Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch
  


• Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)

Recipients of the Order third class

• King Leopold I of Belgium.


• Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)

Recipients of the Order fourth class

• HIM Czar Nicholas II of Russia
  


• Colonel Lambros Katsonis, Greek 18th century revolutionary
  


• Colonel General Sergei Makarov^[14]
  


• Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov^[14]
  


• Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Lebed^[14]
  


• 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
  


• 
  African Spir (Battle of Malakoff, 1855)


• Baron Roman Von Ungern-Sternberg

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,
  ISBN 5-89577-059-2
  

External links

• The Commission on State Awards to the President of the Russian Federation


• 
   Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Orders of St. George". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.