Count Dmitry Golitsyn, Moscow Governor General. 1835    The first ever record of an award in terms of a worn decoration given in Russia dates back to the year 1100. The first decoration of this type was a massive golden hoop worn around the neck. From then on a complicated system of decorations given for distinguished military and civil services to the State and the Monarch grew up. As early as the 15th century receiving a decoration became a symbolic act. The recipient of an award would wear a decoration on his clothes, thus displaying his merits to others. The first award medal, in our sense of the word, was released in 1702, during the reign of Peter I. Since then the issuing of decorations has never ceased. It was during Peter I's reign, that the highest award of the State was founded: the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called.      ORDER OF ST. ANDREW THE FIRST-CALLED Motto: For Faith and Loyalty   The Order of St. Andrew the First-Called  was the first order founded in Russia and  has remained one of the highest among  Russian honours, always granted for out standing services to the Fatherland. Established by Peter I in 1698, it was awarded for military deeds as well as for distinguished civil service. The decoration of the order consisted of the sign, a cross representing the crucifixion of St. Andrew, according to legend, on an X-shaped cross, and a silver eight-pointed star, with the order's motto For Faith and Loyalty placed on a medallion in its centre. The medal was worn on a broad blue ribbon going over the right shoulder, while the star was placed on the left side of the breast. On most solemn occasions, the sign of the order could be worn on the chest, on a golden chain ornamented with multicoloured enamels. The recipients of the order were to come only from those who held the title of count or prince, or the rank of senator, minister or ambassador, general or admiral. Under Peter I, the number of living holders of the order was restricted to 12. Fyodor Golovin, the Tsar's brother-in-arms, became the first recipient of the order. The second was Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa, who later betrayed Peter I, the very man from whose hands he had received the highest Russian award. The other 38 knights who were given the award during the reign of Peter I, turned out to be more worthy of the honour. Among them was Prince Constantin Brancoveanu of Walachia, who received the award in secret for his pro-Russian stance and was not even included in the official list of recipients. Peter I himself was awarded the Order of St. Andrew in 1703 for capturing two Swedish warships in the estuary of the Neva, becoming the seventh knight in the list. Fyodor Golovin, as the first recipient of the order, presented the award to the Tsar, who's official military rank was that of a bombardier company captain. Alexander Menshikov, who was a bombardier lieutenant, also received the same award for the battle. By the time Paul I ascended to the throne in 1797, another 231 people had become holders of the Order of St. Andrew. Among them were military leaders, such as Pavel Rumyantsev and Alexander Suvorov, and statesmen, such as Fyodor Apraksin and Grigory Potemkin. Unlike his predecessors Emperor Paul I granted the order to ecclesiastics. He also established the tradition of awarding the grand dukes the Order of St. Andrew at baptism, and the princes of the Emperor's bloodline at their coming of age. In 1807 the order was granted to Napoleon I, to his brother Jerome, to marshals Berthier and Murat and to Prince Talleyrand. In 1815 the famous English commander, the Duke of Wellington, was added to the list of foreign holders of the Order of St. Andrew. The decoration of this highest order became incorporated into Russian military symbols. St. Andrew's star was a kind of symbol of the Emperor's Guards. After the revolution of 1917 the Order of St. Andrew was abolished. Only on July 1, 1 998, by the decree issued by President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called was restored. The decree established that "the Order of the apostle St. Andrew the First-Called is the highest state award of the Russian Federation." It is "granted to outstanding state and public figures, and other citizens of the Russian Federation for excellent merits contributing to the well-being, grandeur and good name of Russia." The first recipients of the restored order turned out to be academician Dmitry Likhachov, gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the well-known Kalashnikov assault rifle, and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan. Among the later holders of the award are Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexiy II, ex-Chairman of the Federation Council Yegor Stroyev, Admiral Igor Kasatonov, Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, film director Sergey Bondarchuk, and director of the Institute of Transplantation and Artificial Organs Valery Shumakov.   ORDER OF ST. ALEXANDER NEVSKY Motto: For Labours and Fatherland   Peter I created the order towards the end of his life, envisaging it as a purely military one: that explains why it was named after the grand prince famed for his military deeds. But as Russia was not waging any wars during this period, Peter was slow in elaborating the order's charter, and did not grant it to anyone. The order found its first recipients after the death of Peter I, during the reign of his wife, Empress Catherine I. Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, became the first knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky on the day of his marriage to Peter's daughter, Anna Petrovna. On that same day 18 people in total received this award. Thus the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky—initially devised as a military award—turned into a mark of prestige for rank, high birth, etc. from the very beginning. However, despite the 'courtly' character of the order, its prestige remained undiminished. In the hierarchy of Russian honours it held an honourable third position, following the orders of St. Andrew and St.Vladimir, grade I. Only six men were awarded it for services during the Patriotic War of 1812. The order did not have any grades. The decoration was a large cross with 'ruby'-glass rays, made of red enamel in the 19th century. There were golden two-headed eagles between the rays and the figure of Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky on horse-back in the centre. The decoration was worn at the hip on a broad red ribbon going over the left shoulder. An eight-pointed star with the order's motto was worn on left side of the breast. Theoretically the order—despite the fact that it had no grades—could be added to a person's service record up to four times. For instance, a person who had been awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky for civil merits, may have shown courage in battle and been given another award, "the swords to the existing Order of St. Alexander Nevsky". Later on, serving at the rank of general, he may have deserved what was called "the diamond decorations to the existing Order of St. Alexander Nevsky". Finally, for the fourth time he might have been granted "the diamond swords to the existing diamond decorations of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky", which was, in a way, the highest grade of the order.   ORDER OF THE GREAT MARTYR ST. GEORGE THE VICTORIOUS Motto: For Service and Courage   The order was the first one to have been founded in Russia after the death of Emperor Peter the Great. Moreover, it was the first order that could be granted not only to top officials, but to any noble man serving as an officer. The order was established by Empress Catherine II, in effect realizing Peter's intention to introduce an order given for military merit only. The  empress announced the award's creation on November 26, 1769, and on that same day awarded herself the order (grade I), thus becoming the first knight of it. The Order of St. George was unique from its conception and remained so until its abolition in 1917, along with the rest of the system of ranks and honours of the Russian Empire. Being a purely military order, it could be given only for specific military feats in times of war. St. George's Order existed, in a way, beyond the established hierarchy of orders and so could be worn irrespective of any other decorations. The holder of the award, no matter what grade, could con tinue to wear it even if he received the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Later the holders of the order were allowed to wear both lower grades as well as higher ones simultaneously, which the statutes of all the other orders ruled out. Additional military awards, such as standards, arms, crosses and parts of uniforms, using the symbols of St. George's Order were founded in Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. These awards formed a system of honours, whose origin lay in the Order of St. George. From 1849onward the names of all recipients of the order were inscribed on marble plates in St. George Hall in the Great Kremlin Palace, where one can still see them. The order had four grades—an innovation in the country's system of orders at the time. The decorations for the different grades were different in size, yet similar in design: a golden cross covered with white enamel with the saint's image and his monogram on the reverse side of the cross. The decorations for grades I and II were referred to as "larger-cross decorations"; those of grades III and IV, as "smaller-cross decorations". To the first two was added a four-pointed star with the saint's monogram and the order's motto (another peculiarity of the St. George's Order: all other Russian orders had eight-pointed stars). Grade IV of the order could be granted to any army officer, grade III to a colonel, grade II to a general and grade I to a field marshal or, rarely, to a full general (infantry general, cavalry general, etc.). The number of the order's knights was not limited, but there was no need to place limitations. Despite the fact that the order was very popular and more 'accessible' than the others, only 11,000 people received it during one and a half century of its existence. The higher grades of the order were granted only rarely. The decorations of grade III were given to 638 officers and generals, those of grade II to only 127 commanders, and only 25 were awarded grade I. That is in comparison to the one thousand knights holding the highest Russian order, that of St. Andrew. And there were only ever four full knights of the St. George's Order. Nearly all the provisions of the initial statute of the order remained valid until 1917. Despite the upheavals that fell upon the country in and after 1917, the awards of St. George were remembered among the people. Their colours were revived in the Order of Glory (1943) and the medal For Victory over Germany (1945) as well as in the peakless caps and insignia of the Navy Guards (1944).   ORDER OF THE GREAT MARTYR ST. CATHERINE  Motto: For Love and Fatherland   For a long time this Russian order was the only order in the world to be granted to ladies. Furthermore, it also remains unique to this day, as it contains the words For Love in its motto. Naturally, the award was not granted for military merit, yet its origin was directly connected with war activities in a very special sense. In 1711 Peter I lead an unsuccessful campaign against the Turks and was encircled by the Turkish army at the Prut River. His wife Catherine, who accompanied husband in the campaign, gave up all her jewels to bribe the commander-in-chief of the Turkish army. The bribe worked, helping Peter I and the Russian army avoid the disgrace of defeat and captivity. Three years later, on Catherine's name day and in her name, Peter established the order, dividing it into two grades: that of a large cross, that of a small cross. Both crosses looked more like medallions. The decoration of the small cross was worn at the right hip on a red ribbon with silver edging going over the left shoulder. The diamond-encrusted star of the order was worn on the left side of the breast. During Peter I's reign, only his wife Catherine was granted the award. The second lady to be given the order was Peter’s daughter Anna, after Peter's death. Within the two-hundred-year period of its existence, the award was granted very rarely—more rarely than the Order of St. Andrew. The order was given to the grand duchesses when they were born and to princesses of the Emperor's bloodline when they came of age. Outside the royal family, one holder of the order was the famous Catherine Dashkova, who was given the award not for her outstanding contribution to the development of learning in Russia, but for her part in the palace coup d'etat of 1 762, which led Catherine II to the throne.   ORDER OF ST. STANISLAW Motto: Praemiando Incitat (By Rewarding Encourages)   The order was the lowest in the hierarchy of Russian honours. It was founded in Poland in 1765 by King Stanislaw II August Poniatowski in the name of Poland's patron saint. Initially the order had one grade and its decoration consisted of a golden cross with split ends decorated with small golden balls and half spheres. The rays of the cross were covered with red enamel on the front, with Polish eagles placed in-between. The centre of the cross had a green enamel wreath with a white field inside, which had red enamel letters SS for St. Stanislaw. It was worn at the left hip on a red ribbon with double white stripes, put on over the right shoulder. The eight-pointed star of the order, made of silver, had in its centre again the letters SS, the motto of the order in Latin and a green wreath. After Poland became part of the Russian Empire in 1815, Emperor Alexander I established a new statute for the Order of St. Stanislaw, introducing four grades. During the reign of Alexander I the order was only granted to native Poles. In 1831, after suppressing the Polish uprising and abolishing Polish autonomy. Emperor Nicholas I made all the Polish orders part of the Russian system of awards. The Order of St. Stanislaw was modified; the Polish eagles were replaced by Russian two-headed ones. The order was granted not only for civil and military services in the traditional sense of the word, but also for charitable activities, the establishment of large manufacturing enterprises, discoveries in agriculture, trade, science and thearts, and for literary and educational activities. There was only one limitation; the order could not be given to Orthodox ecclesiastics—as Stanislaw was a saint within the Catholic Church. The Order of St. Stanislaw became one of the most widely granted awards in the Russian army. In many old portraits of Russian army officers one can see the decoration of St. Stanislaw on their uniforms.   ORDER OF ST. VLADIMIR Motto: Benefit, Honour and Glory   On September 22, 1 782, the 20th anniversary of the reign of Empress Catherine II, a new Russian order was founded, the Order of St. Vladimir. The Order of St. Prince Vladimir Equai-to-the-Apostles, as was its official full name, could be granted for military merit as well as for distinguished civil service. The order had four grades. Lower-grade decorations usually preceded higher-grade ones, though on some occasions the recipient of the order might 'skip' one, two or even three grades. Many of the first recipients of the St. Vladimir's Order were awarded grade.-I right from the start. It should be noted that the Order of St. Vladimir soon became the award which was given solely for honourable and long service. The tradition of awarding members of the Emperor's family the highest Russian honours at birth or at coming of age, had only two exceptions: the orders of St. Vladimir and St. George. Those had to be earned. The sole occasion when the Order of St. Vladimir was given to a person who had not earned it was when Catherine II, on establishing the order in 1782, awarded it to herself. Even in the declining decades of the empire, when the system of awards was being liberalized, this rule was strictly followed. Emperor Nicholas II, who received all the highest Russian awards, except those of St. Vladimir and St. George, at birth, was awarded the fourth and lowest grade of St. Vladimir only after 25 years of service in various officers' ranks. Only then could he add the small and modest cross of St. Vladimir to the splendid blue ribbon of St. Andrew the First-Called.   ORDER OF ST. ANNE Motto: Amantibus justitiam, Pietatem et Fidem (To Those Who Love justice, Piety and Loyalty)   In the 18th century an order of foreign origin was introduced into the system of awards of the Russian Empire for the first time. The order was established by Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, in the name of his wife Anna, daughter of Peter I, who died in 1 728. The initial letters of the order's Latin motto, A.J.P.F., correspond to the first letters of the Latin phrase Anna, Emperor Peter's Daughter. When in 1742 the duke's son, Charles Peter Ulrich, was proclaimed heir to the Russian throne under the name of Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich, he brought the Order of St. Anne to Russia. Towards the end of the 18th century the order was divided into three grades and, in 1815, into four. Grade I was worn on a broad ribbon on the right side of the breast, grade II on the neck, grade III in the buttonhole of a uniform and grade IV on swords or daggers. One was to continue wearing the decoration even in the event of receiving higher grades of the order.   By Alexandra Balashova (“Moscow today & tomorrow” July / 2002)