Cross of St.George

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
Eligibility	Top and Senior Military Officers
Awarded for	Distinction in Combat
Status	Active
Grades	Knight Grand Cross Knight Knight Commander Knight Officer
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. After the 1917 Russian Revolution it was awarded by the White movement anti-communist forces under Alexander Kolchak until their collapse in 1921. The order was revived in the Russian Federation on August 8, 2000 by Decree №1463 of the President of Russia. The current award criteria were amended on September 7, 2010 by Presidential Decree 1099.

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.

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.