Order of Saint Anna

Imperial Order of Saint Anna Орден Святой Анны
Star of the Order
Awarded by Head of the House of Romanov
Type	Dynastic Order
Royal house	House of Romanov
Religious affiliation	Russian Orthodox
Ribbon	Bright Red with thin Yellow stripes on either side.
Motto	Amantibus Justitiam, Pietatem, Fidem To those who Love Justice, Piety, and Fidelity
Status	Rarely constituted
Sovereign	Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia
Grades	Knight/Dame Grand Cordon Knight/Dame Commander Knight/Dame Officer Knight/Dame
Statistics
Established	14 February 1735 1735 – 1918 (National Order) 1918 - Present (House Order)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Imperial Order of St. Prince Vladimir
Next (lower)	Imperial Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
The Ribbon of the Order

The Order of Saint Anna (Russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Ann" or "Order of Saint Anne") was established as a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia. The motto of the Order is "Amantibus Justitiam, Pietatem, Fidem" ("To those who love justice, piety, and fidelity"). Its festival day is 3 February (New Style, 16 February). Originally, the Order of Saint Anna was a dynastic order of knighthood; but between 1797 and 1917 it had dual status as a dynastic order and as a state order. The Head of the Imperial House of Russia always is Master of the imperial Order of Saint Anna. The Order of St. Anna continued to be awarded after the revolution by Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, and Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna. Today, the Russian Imperial Order of St. Anna, awarded by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is recognized as a legitimate order of chivalry by ICOC and as a continuation of the pre-Revolutionary order, but not by some historians nor by many members of the Romanov Family Association.

Membership of the Order was awarded for a distinguished career in civil service or for valour and distinguished service in the military. The Order of Saint Anna entitled recipients of the first class to hereditary nobility, and recipients of lower classes to personal nobility. For military recipients, it was awarded with swords. It is now usually awarded for meritorious service to the Imperial House of Russia.

At first, the Order had but one class and was named the "Order of Anna". The statutes of the Order promulgated in 1735 established as the principal insignia a red-enameled gold cross, with an image of Saint Ann imposed upon the centre of the cross; the reverse bore the initials "A.I.P.F." (for "Anna Imperatoris Petri Filia": "Anna, Emperor Peter's daughter" in Latin). The same letters also abbreviate the Latin motto (as the letter "J" did not exist in Latin, "Iustitiam" was the original spelling of the word now rendered "Justitiam").