Over the past three hundred years, many awards have appeared in Russia. But there is one among them that enjoys special honor and respect.
History
It all started with Catherine II, who established in 1765 the highest award for military distinction - the Order of St. George the Victorious. The fact that the award was given regardless of previous merits, but only for outstanding military successes, immediately distinguished it among others. The order consisted of a star, an order ribbon and a cross. The statute established that the cross should never be removed, as it is an award for special merit. This is probably why the Order of St. George is sometimes called simply - St. George's Cross. However, this is not entirely true.
The fact is that the Order of St. George is an officer's award. It was decided to establish a special sign for non-officer ranks in 1807. It was the St. George Cross - a silver version of the officer's cross.
The award immediately became very honorable. It could only be earned by personal courage. In addition to respect, the recipient received an increase in salary and a number of other benefits. St. George's Cross could be received several times. Since the cross had no degrees, a bow was added to the ribbon. Since 1833, not only the emperor, but also the commanders had the right to reward their subordinates themselves.
In 1856, four degrees of the sign appeared. A gold cross was added to the silver cross for 3 and degrees - for 1 and 2 degrees. At first, a cross of the 4th degree was awarded, but there were special cases when the 4th degree was skipped. Soon, the full St. George Knights appeared - brave warriors, awarded four or even more crosses.
It is interesting that only at the beginning of the twentieth century, the award began to be called "St. George's Cross" officially. And "St. George's Cavalier" in this case is only a conditional name.
In the First World War, the presentation of the St. George Cross was massive. The lists of awardees numbered in the millions. The most massive award at that time was called the soldier's cross.
The St. George Cross continued to live even after it was officially canceled in 1917. This is due to the fact that many participants in the Great Patriotic War already had this award and wore it. Zhukov, Rokossovsky had the St. George cross, he was among the Soviet marshals and the full St. George cavalier is Semyon Budyonny.
Since 1992, soldiers on the battlefield can again earn the St. George Cross.
Description and symbolism
The choice of the patron saint of military awards has its own meaning. Saint George was a warrior during his lifetime. He comes to Russia along with the adoption of Christianity and quickly becomes one of the most revered saints. Such saints have traditionally been venerated as protectors. George began to be perceived as the defender of the entire Russian state and therefore his image was placed on the coat of arms of the capital.
The cruciform form of the award dates back to the era of the European Middle Ages, when various crosses were the distinctive signs of spiritual orders. Over time, orders-insignia are separated from orders-organizations and acquire the meaning of honorary awards.
Look like the Cross of St. George as follows: it is equal-pointed, the ends widen slightly. On the obverse in the center there is a relief with the patron saint of the award - St. George. He is shown at the moment of his most famous feat - the victory over the serpent. On the reverse side - the letters C and G - this is a monogram denoting the patron saint of the award. At first, the cross was made only of silver. When the degrees appeared, gold became the material for the signs of the first two. At present, the crosses of the first two degrees are made of gilded silver.
There were also special types of the cross. One was founded in 1836 in connection with the celebrations on the occasion of the opening of the monument on the Borodino field. The cross was awarded to veterans of the allied Prussian army. It was distinguished by the monogram of Alexander I on the reverse.
More original was the cross without the image of George himself. This cross was conceived to reward non-Christian warriors. Instead of George, he was wearing a two-headed eagle.
