Order of Saint Vladimir
{{Short description|Imperial Russian order}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{About|the order established in 1782|the order established in 1958|Order of Saint Vladimir of the Russian Orthodox Church}}
{{Infobox order
|title = Imperial Order of {{nowr|Saint Prince Vladimir}}
|image = Ster van de Orde van Sint-Vladimir antiek.jpg
|caption = Star of the Order
|awarded_by = the Emperor of All Russia {{flagi|Imperial Standard of the Emperor of Russia (1858–1917).svg|size=20px}}
|type = Dynastic Order
|established = {{start date|1782|10|3|df=y}}
|country = Russian Empire
|house = House of Romanov
|religion = Russian Orthodox Church
|image2 = 100px
|caption2 = Ribbon of the order
|motto = {{nowr|"Benefit, Honour and Glory"}}
|status = No longer awarded
|grades = 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th classes
|higher = Order of Saint George
|lower = Order of Saint Anna
}}
The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir ({{langx|ru|орден Святого Владимира}}) was an Imperial Russian order established on {{OldStyleDate|3 October|1782|22 September}} by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'.
Grades
The order had four degrees and was awarded for continuous civil and military service. People who had been awarded with the St. Vladimir Order for military merits bore it with a special fold on the ribbon – "with a bow". There was a certain hierarchy of Russian Orders. According to this, the First Class Order of Saint Vladimir was the second one—the first was the Saint George Order—by its significance.
According to Russian laws on nobility, people who were awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir had the rights of hereditary nobility until the Emperor's decree of 1900 was issued. After this, only three first classes of the order gave such a right, the last one granting only personal nobility.
Today, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, claimant to the Headship of the Russian Imperial House, continues to award the Russian Imperial Order of Saint Vladimir as a dynastic order of knighthood.{{cite web|title=Императорский Орден Святого Равноапостольного Великого Князя Владимира|url=http://www.imperialhouse.ru/rus/history/title/award/award2/1086.html|publisher=Russian Imperial House|access-date=25 March 2014}} The validity of her awards is disputed by some historians and by some members of the Romanov Family Association.{{cite book|last = Sainty|first = G. S.|date = 2006|title = World Orders of Knighthood and Merit|location = Wilmington|publisher = Burke's Peerage|isbn = 9780971196674}}
= Styles =
File:Orden stVladimir styles.png
; First class: A red cross with black and golden borders; the badge of the order depended from a sash worn over the right shoulder, and a gold-and-silver eight-rayed star was fastened over the left chest
; Second class: The red cross on the neck and the star over the left chest
; Third class: The red cross of a smaller size on the neck
; Fourth class: The red cross over the left chest
Insignia
A red enamelled cross pattée with black enamelled borders, and a black enamelled central disc bearing a crowned red and ermine mantle with the monogram of Saint Vladimir. Worn on a sash by the first degree, on a necklet by the second and third degrees, and on a chest ribbon by the fourth degree.
A four-pointed star superimposed upon a four-pointed gold star, with a golden cross pattée and the letters "CPKB" between the arms of the cross on a black enamel background at the centre surrounded by the motto of the order "Benefit, Honour and Glory".
Worn on the left chest by the first and second degrees. This motto was transferred to present-day star of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, which was established in 1992 by President Boris Yeltsin and is today the second highest ranking decoration of that country.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
{{Orders, decorations, and medals of Russia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Order Of St. Vladimir}}
Category:1782 establishments in the Russian Empire
Category:Russian Orthodox Church