Order of St. Andrew

Imperial Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called
Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного
Awarded by Head of the House of Romanov
TypeOrder of chivalry
Established1698
MottoЗа веру и верность
(For Faith and Loyalty)
StatusRarely constituted
SovereignGrand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna
Grand MasterGrand Duke George Mikhailovich
GradesKnight
Statistics
First induction1698 (Count Fyodor Golovin)
Precedence
Next (higher)None
Next (lower)Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
Order of Saint Catherine

Ribbon of the order

The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (Russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, romanized: Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the Russian Imperial Family (as an order of chivalry) and by the Russian Federation (as a state order). Established as the first and highest order of chivalry of the Russian Tsardom and the Russian Empire in 1698, it was removed from the honours system under the USSR before being re-established as the top Russian civil and military order in 1998.