Order of St. Andrew

This article is about the Russian honour. For the Barbados honour, see Order of Barbados. For the Eastern Orthodox Christian honour, see Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The Star and Badge of the Order of St. Andrew on its light blue riband.

The Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (Russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного) is the first and the highest order of chivalry of the Russian Empire.

Russian Empire

The "Jewel" (Badge) of the Order of St. Andrew, obverse (left) and reverse (right)

The Order was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great, in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia. It had only one class, and was only awarded for the most eminent civilian or military merit.

Peter learned this from his travels in the West during the Great Embassy. In the past service to the state was rewarded with money or large estates. He noticed the ceremonies accompanying the granting of England's Order of the Garter and Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece and noticed the loyalty and pride of the awarded. It also saved the state land and money.

Prince Fyodor Golovin was the first cavalier of the order. Until its abolition after the Russian Revolution of 1917, just over one thousand awards were made. During the monarchy, recipients of the Order of St. Andrew also automatically received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the White Eagle, the Order of St. Anne, first degree, and the Order St. Stanislaus, first degree. Moreover, recipients of lower ranks were automatically promoted to the rank of lieutenant general or vice admiral.

The insignia of the order consisted of:

• Badge: an enamelled crowned black double-headed eagle bearing a blue St. Andrew's Cross (saltire) with St. Andrew crucified upon it; on the arms of the saltire were the Latin letters 'SAPR' (for 'St. Andrew, Protector of Russia'). It was worn on a pale blue riband (sash) over the left shoulder, or on special occasions on an elaborate 'collar' (chain).

• Star: eight-pointed silver star bearing a miniature of the badge on a golden background at the centre, surrounded by the motto "For Faith and Loyalty" Za Veru i Vernost) on a blue ring. It was worn on the left chest.

The insignia of order could be awarded "with diamonds" as a special distinction. Saint Andrew's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg was the chapter church of this chivalric order.

Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia claims to be the present Grand Mistress of the Order. As the highest imperial order, it is only bestowed very rarely, e.g. on Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow.

Russian Federation

Chain of the order.

An order with the same name was first unofficially re-established by the Orthodox Church of Russia on December 27, 1988, with the same name, but different insignia and statutes.

The order was officially re-instated as the highest civilian and military award of the Russian Federation by Presidential Decree No. 576 on July 1, 1998.

Among the first recipients of the Order after its re-establishment were academic Dmitry Likhachev, gun designer Mikhail Kalashnikov and Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Mikhail Gorbachev the last general secretary of the CPSU was awarded by President Dmitry Medvedev in March 2011, before his 80th birthday, due to his hard work as the leader of the Soviet Union

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
• Order of St. George
• Military decoration
• Order of chivalry
• Order (decoration)