Order of St. Andrew

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 was bestowed in a single class and was only awarded for the most outstanding civilian or military merit.

Peter learned of the practice of bestowing awards from his travels in the West during the Great Embassy. In the past, service to the Russian state was rewarded with money or large estates. He witnessed first hand the awards ceremonies for England's Order of the Garter and Austria's Order of the Golden Fleece and noticed the loyalty and pride of the awardees. It also saved the state land and money.

Count Fyodor Golovin was the first Knight of the order. Until the Russian Revolution of 1917, just over one thousand awards had been made. During the monarchy, Knights of the Order of St. Andrew also automatically were granted hereditary nobility and received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the White Eagle, the Order of Saint Anna and the Order St. Stanislaus Knight Grand Cross. Moreover, recipients of lower ranks were automatically promoted to the rank of lieutenant general or vice admiral. The Order of Saint Andrew continues to be awarded by the Russian Imperial House in exile, with most recent investitures having been conferred in 2021. The first post-revolutionary presentation was to Prince Georgy Konstantinovich of Russia on attaining his dynastic majority in April 1923.[1]

Due to a blue riband of the order, the French phrase Cordon Bleu, initially associated with Order of the Holy Spirit, also referred to knights St Andrew's order.[2][3]

Decoration with collar (left) and with sash and star (right)

The insignia of the order consisted of:

• Badge: an enameled 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' ('St. Andrew, Patron of Russia'). It was worn on a pale blue sash over the right 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 center, surrounded by the motto "For Faith and Loyalty" (Russian: За веру и верность Za Veru i Vernost') on a blue ring. It was worn on the left chest.

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

• 
  Count Feodor Golovin
• 
  Emperor Peter the Great
• 
  Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov
• 
  Prince Dmitry Golitsyn
• 
  Catherine the Great
• 
  Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna
• 
  Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1709-1761)

The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called is used to award prominent statesmen and public figures, eminent representatives of science, culture, the arts and various industries for exceptional services, for promoting the prosperity, grandeur and glory of Russia.[8]

The Order may also be awarded to foreign heads of states for outstanding service to the Russian Federation.[8]

The design of the insignia of the modern Order of St. Andrew has changed very little from the imperial design. It consists of:

• a badge (double-headed eagle) attached to a chain (called a "collar") worn around the neck for very special circumstances, or more commonly on a 100 mm-wide blue sash worn over the right shoulder
• a star worn on the left breast

The colour of the sash differs from the colour of the Imperial era, and resembles the shade of the sash of the British Order of the Garter. Members of the military division of the Order have crossed swords added below the crown above the two eagles' heads. On the reverse of the eagle on a white ribbon the motto of the Order appears inscribed in gold letters: «За веру и верность» ("For faith and loyalty").[8]

Select recipients:[9]

• 
  Author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• 
  Author Sergey Mikhalkov
• 
  Gun designer Mikhail Kalashnikov
• 
  Mikhail Gorbachev, last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
• 
  Lyudmila Zykina, national folk singer of Russia.
• 
  Valery Shumakov, founding father of organ transplants in Russia
• 
  Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu
• 
  Soviet Russian scholar Dmitry Likhachov
• 
  Poet Rasul Gamzatov
• 
  Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
• 
  Dancer and choreographer Yury Grigorovich
• 
  Author Daniil Granin
• 
  President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev
• 
  Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow
• 
  President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev
• 
  Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi
• 
  Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow
• 
  Design engineer Herbert Yefremov
• 
  Politician Valentina Matviyenko
• 
  Composer Aleksandra Pakhmutova
• 
  General surgeon, health minister of the Soviet Union Boris Petrovsky
• 
  President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev
• 
  Poet Fazu Aliyeva
• 
  Opera singer Irina Arkhipova