Hello my dear readers. The celebration of Victory Day is just around the corner. Numerous residents of the country will hang St. George ribbons not only on their chests, but also on bags, cars, and even weave them into their hair instead of ribbons. Do you know what the St. George ribbon means? Where did it come from, the designation of stripes and colors? This is what I want to tell you about today.
How did the St. George ribbon appear?
The history of its appearance begins in the 18th century. The national colors of the Russian Empire were white, orange (yellow), and black. The country's coat of arms was decorated with these shades. On November 26, 1769, Catherine II established the Order of St. George the Victorious. It included a ribbon called “St. George” in honor of this order, which was awarded to generals and officers for military merit.
In 1807, another medal was approved - a badge of merit of the Military Order. This award was also dedicated to St. George the Victorious. The unofficial name is St. George's Cross. Since 1913, non-commissioned officers and soldiers were awarded the St. George Medal.
All these awards were received along with the St. George's Ribbon. If for some reason the gentleman was not awarded the order, he received the St. George Ribbon.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the St. George standards appeared. After the Marine Guards crew received this award in 1813, the sailors began wearing the St. George ribbon on their hats. For their differences, ribbons were awarded to entire military units by decree of Emperor Alexander II.
After the October Revolution of 1917, all tsarist medals were abolished by the Bolsheviks. But even after that, they were awarded with a ribbon for their merits.
In the post-revolutionary period, the most respected insignia were “For the Great Siberian Campaign” and “For the Ice Campaign.” These awards included St. George's ribbons.
What do the colors and stripes mean?
According to the statute, the St. George ribbon had two stripes of yellow and three stripes of black. Although immediately instead of a yellow tint, orange was used.
Even Catherine the Great, when establishing the colors of the ribbon, relied on the meaning of yellow as a sign of fire, and black as a symbol of gunpowder. The black color is also interpreted as smoke, but this does not change the essence. Therefore, flames and smoke represent military glory and soldier's valor.
There is another version. I have already said that we chose this color scheme in particular (gold, black), just like the coat of arms of Russia.
In heraldry, it is customary to symbolize the black shade with mourning, earth, sadness, peace, death. The golden hue symbolizes strength, justice, respect, power. Therefore, the color scheme of the St. George Ribbon combines respect for the heroes and participants in the battle, regret for its victims, and glorification of the courage and strength of the fighters, at the cost of whose lives justice was restored.
Another version says that the color symbolism of these shades is associated with the face of St. George the Victorious, where he defeats the snake.
There is also a consideration that the stripes on the St. George Ribbon represent the death and return to life of St. George the Victorious. He faced death three times and was resurrected twice.
It should be noted that the designation of colors is still debated to this day.
Symbol
The St. George Ribbon became a symbol of Victory on May 9, 1945. By a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces on this date, the medal “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” was introduced. It is this ribbon that covers the medal block.
The medal was awarded not only for special merits, but also to all participants in hostilities. This honor was given even to those who left the service due to injury and were transferred to another job.
The approximate number of recipients is around 15 million people.
The Order of Glory was awarded only for personal merit. Commanders, home front workers, and developers of military equipment were not given such an honor. The medal was awarded only to ordinary soldiers based on the statute of the order:
- Personal capture of a German officer.
- Personal destruction of a mortar or machine gun at an enemy position.
- Capturing the enemy's banner while ignoring one's own safety.
- Performing a military mission using tank weapons while being in a burning tank.
- Providing assistance to the wounded in a number of battles under enemy fire at the risk of life.
- Destruction of a bunker garrison (trench, bunker, dugout) regardless of the danger.
- Removal or capture of an enemy patrol (post, secret) at night.
- Destruction of an enemy warehouse with military equipment during a night raid.
- Saving the banner in a moment of danger from being captured by the enemy.
- Creating a passage through an enemy wire fence during combat operations.
- When a wounded soldier returns to the battlefield.
As you can see, my dear readers, the order was awarded to those who daily put their lives in danger and really tried to do everything in the name of a great victory.
How to wear the ribbon
The ribbon was worn in different ways. Everything depended on the class of the gentleman. There were three possible options:
- On the neck.
- In the buttonhole.
- Over the shoulder.
Can you imagine how proud the owners of this award were? Also interesting is the fact that the warriors who received this award also received a lifetime reward from the treasury. After the death of the recipients, the ribbon passed to their heirs. But the award could be deprived if any act was committed that tarnished the reputation of the Knight of St. George.
St. George's ribbon today
Every year on May 9, we see this ribbon on many people as a sign of respect for fallen war heroes. This action originated in 2005. Its creator is Natalya Loseva, who works at RIA Novosti. This agency, in tandem with the ROOSPPM “Student Community”, are the organizers of the action. It is financed by local and regional authorities, supported by the media and businessmen. Volunteers hand out ribbons to everyone.
The purpose of the holiday is to express respect and gratitude to veterans who died on the battlefield. When we wear the St. George Ribbon, it means that we remember the Second World War and are proud of our valiant ancestors. The ribbon is distributed free of charge. Most often we see and wear it during the celebration of Victory Day.
As you can see, dear readers of my blog, the history and significance of the St. George Ribbon are still important today. Do you wear this Victory sign during the holiday? Share the article with your friends. And, of course, don’t forget to subscribe to blog updates.
Sincerely, Ekaterina Bogdanova
It seems that not so long ago the St. George’s ribbon became an attribute of Victory Day. Meanwhile, twelve years have passed. Let us remember that the tradition was started by Moscow journalists and was picked up almost immediately throughout the country, as well as beyond its borders. They picked it up so quickly because the symbol has a long and glorious history. And Alexander Semenenko, candidate of historical sciences, reminded us of it on the eve of the next Victory Day.
The St. George Ribbon is a memory of the two-color ribbon for the Order of St. George, the St. George Cross and the St. George Medal. The award appeared at the height of the Russian-Turkish War, when Empress Catherine II established the order in honor of St. George the Victorious. “George the Victorious is considered the patron saint of the Russian army. In addition, he is depicted as a patron on the coat of arms of Moscow. And then such a long-standing tradition developed that St. George the Victorious is, first of all, a man, and then a symbol of the inflexibility of the Russian spirit. The introduction of such an order was supposed to contribute to the rise of soldiers,” says our interlocutor.
The order, as he notes, has a heraldic component attached to it, and it found its origins in existing symbols: “Black is the symbol of the eagle, and the eagle is the coat of arms of the Russian Empire. The orange field was initially yellow. I would like to note that orange and yellow are considered a type of golden field. This is the field of the Russian state emblem."
This is the true meaning of ribbon colors. But today we often hear that gamma means smoke and flame. As an option - gunpowder and flame. It sounds nice, but it's not true. And it also has a long history. In the nineteenth century, as some sources note, some nobles wrote that “the immortal legislator who founded this order believed that its ribbon connected the color of gunpowder and the color of fire.”
“The common belief that orange symbolizes fire, and black symbolizes ash or smoke, is fundamentally wrong,” says Alexander Mikhailovich. - There is classical heraldry. Such comparisons are beyond the bounds of science. The St. George ribbon is a historical image and it is better to work with explanations of classical heraldry, rather than invent something. I propose to agree with the arguments of Catherine II. Black is the heraldic color of the eagle. The double-headed eagle is now both the Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation and the Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, which we borrowed during the era of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, thanks, among other things, to his second wife Zoya, or Sophia Paleologue. And the yellow or orange color, as we said, is a kind of heraldic understanding of the golden color around the state emblem. George the Victorious himself became a kind of symbol of Russia. Although it is worth noting that George is close to both Muslims and some other religions, so representatives of different faiths are happy to come to our Victory Square to pay tribute to those who fought for the freedom of our Motherland.”
The image of the St. George ribbon was dear to the people even in Soviet times. During the Great Patriotic War, it became clear that it was necessary to revive national heraldic traditions. “And when the guard was born in the battle of Moscow, guards ribbons appeared, they were slightly modified, but they were based on the St. George component. Then the Order of Glory appears for soldiers and sergeants, there, too, on the order block we see the St. George ribbon. Well, when the Soviet Union won the war, a medal “For Victory over Germany” appeared, and the St. George’s ribbon was also depicted on the order block. And if we look at the anniversary medals of our veterans, the St. George format is reproduced everywhere,” explains the historian.
The chain of times, according to the interlocutor, closed when in 2005, at the celebration of the next anniversary of the Great Victory, people wanted to find some symbol that was not invented, but took into account both Russian and Soviet traditions and would be understandable to modern youth. “The St. George’s ribbon became such a symbol. She gained popularity very quickly. Twelve years have passed, and it has become clear that this is a good designation for the holiday and involvement in it. And, of course, this is a kind of belonging to the Russian world, a sign that you remember the victories of your ancestors, and these are Nevsky, Kutuzov, Bagration, Zhukov, Vasilevsky,” says Alexander Semenenko.
As we can see, we didn’t have to invent anything in order to get a bright symbol of the great holiday that was close to millions. “You just need to comprehend the traditions and carefully try to recreate everything. If it had been superficial, artificially imposed, it would probably have been rejected. The ribbon continues to live, and it continues to unite us all - the fallen, the living, and those who will come after us,” the interlocutor concludes.
Black and yellow colors reproduce the colors of the state coat of arms under Catherine II: a black double-headed eagle on a gold background. The image of George both on the state emblem and on the cross (award) itself had the same colors: on a white horse, white George in a yellow cloak, killing a black snake with a spear, respectively, a white cross with a yellow-black ribbon. This is the true meaning of ribbon colors. But today we often hear that gamma means smoke and flame. As an option - gunpowder and flame. It sounds nice, but it's not true.
We all know that the “St. George Ribbon” is an all-Russian event for the distribution of symbolic black and orange ribbons signifying Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The Code of the Action states that the St. George Ribbon symbolizes respect for war veterans, tribute to those who died, and gratitude to those who gave everything for victory in the war. Ribbons, as a symbol of the unbroken spirit of the people who defeated fascism, began to be distributed in 2005 on the initiative of the Student Community and RIA Novosti. However, few people know why this ribbon is black and orange, and also what exactly these colors mean.
In fact, the name of the action refers us to the St. George Ribbon. This is the name of the two-color ribbon for the Order of St. George and some other awards. Since the establishment of the order by Catherine II in 1769, this ribbon has been black and yellow. In the 1913 sample, the yellow color was replaced by orange. True, both colors from a heraldic point of view are variations of gold. Thus, if we are talking specifically about the St. George Ribbon, then it was used with awards presented in the Russian Empire, and has no direct relation to the exploits of soldiers in the Great Patriotic War. In the USSR, imperial awards were abolished, but during the Great Patriotic War in 1942, the Guards Ribbon was established - three black stripes on a golden-orange ribbon. Thus, it is she who symbolizes the exploits of the people of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War, and, according to skeptics and critics, the commemorative ribbons being distributed correspond specifically to the Guards, and not the St. George ribbon, despite the name of the action. But, by and large, the Guards Ribbon can actually be called the successor to the St. George's, because both of them were awarded along with honorary awards, both symbolized feats - the Soviet Guards Ribbon was used in the army and navy in units and on ships, which were awarded for the courage and bravery of the soldiers the title of “Guards” or “Guards”, in the Order of Glory and in the medal “For Victory over Germany”.
Thus, the St. George Ribbon is an important symbol of Victory, uniting people who remember and honor the feat of their ancestors, the feat of people who, united, were able to save the Motherland and the world from the worst enemy.
More precisely, the truth about her. In short, we are clearing up the mess that was created by liars and demagogues.
The other day, a man who considers himself a communist reproached me: “You replaced the symbols of Victory with your ribbon, and now you want your neighbors to swear allegiance to this fake,” it was said about.
And he cited as evidence Nevzorov’s exemplary performance, which can be considered the quintessence of all the lies on this matter. Below is an excerpt from the recording and the text, and you can read and watch the full version:
“The definition of the ribbon that people tie to themselves on May 9 as "Colorado" , based on the color of the Colorado potato beetle, I actually gave once on Channel Five. Naturally, I have nothing against May 9th. But if you take this so seriously, if it is extremely important for you, then you must be extremely neat and serious, including in symbolism .Now let's clear up this nonsense. By the way, we can say “thank you” to Alexander Glebovich for so briefly and sensibly summing up almost all the main distortions, omissions and outright lies about the St. George’s ribbon.St. George's Ribbon, was unknown in the Soviet Army . The Order of Glory was established only in 43, was not particularly popular, did not even enjoy fame at the front , the award must have a certain historical path in order for it to become popular and famous, and just the opposite, General Shkuro, General Vlasov, many The highest ranks of the SS supported the cult of the St. George's ribbon . It was a tape of both the Vlasovites and the highest ranks of the SS.
Understand, no matter how we treat the Soviet state, the color of victory, and we must treat this calmly and courageously, victory color - red . The red color was raised banner over the Reichstag , under the red banners people marched into the Patriotic War, not under any others. And anyone who pays attention and pain to this holiday should probably be precise in observing this symbolism too.”
And I know, of course, that in the Soviet system of awards and badges there was no concept of “St. George’s ribbon.”
But do we every time want to plunge into the jungle of faleristics like: “the ribbon is a silk rep moiré ribbon of golden-orange color with three longitudinal black stripes applied to it with edging 1 mm wide”?
Therefore, for simplicity of presentation, let’s conventionally call it “St. George’s ribbon” - after all, everyone understands what we are talking about? So…
Victory symbol
Question: When did your St. George ribbon become a symbol of Victory?
Medal "For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
It looked like this:
and like this:
Soviet naval guards at the Victory Parade
Guards ribbon on a USSR post stamp ( 1973 !!!)
and, for example, like this:
Guards ribbon on the Guards naval flag of the destroyer "Gremyashchiy"
Order of Glory
A.NEVZOROV:And one more thing:
My friend Minaev, don’t forget about my former profession. I was once a reporter, after all. That is, I must be absolutely shameless and unprincipled.
S. MINAEV:And finally, to dot the i's - one more quote:
Listen, this is amazing, because you are completely cynical in answering questions around which everyone usually starts picking at their fingertips and saying that it was just such a time.A.NEVZOROV:
There was no such time. We were all, to one degree or another, on gold chains from various oligarchs, they boasted about us, they outbid us. We tried to escape, taking with us, if possible, the gold chain.
“That Berendey hut, which was built on the ruins of my homeland, is not a shrine for me.”Therefore, listening to discussions about orders, about glory, about war and exploits, about Colorado beetles and “a serious attitude towards symbolism” - do not forget (just for the sake of objectivity) WHO EXACTLY talks about all this.
"Vlasov ribbon"
Like many inspired liars, Nevzorov, looking for numbers to confirm his speculations, forgot about common sense.
He himself said that the Order of Glory was established in 1943. And the guards ribbon came even earlier, in the summer of ’42. And the so-called “Russian Liberation Army” was only officially established six months later, and operated mainly in 43-44, while officially subordinate to the Third Reich.
Tell me, can you imagine that the official military orders and insignia of the Wehrmacht coincided with the awards of the enemy army? For German generals to create military units and formalize the use of the insignia of the Soviet army in them?
It is reliably known that the “Russian Liberation Army” fought under the tricolor, and used a parody of St. Andrew’s flag as symbolism.
The land fleet in the steppes of Ukraine turned out to be, as you can see, not a joke at all... :)
And it looked like this:
And that's all. They received awards from the German Wehrmacht in accordance with the regulations established by it.
Order of the Patriotic War
During the war this order were awarded 1.276 million people , including about 350 thousand - Order of the 1st degree.
Think about it: also more than a million! It is not surprising that it has become one of the most popular and recognizable symbols of Victory. It was this order, together with the Order of Glory and the medal “For Victory,” that was almost always seen on front-line soldiers returning from the war.
It was with him that orders of various degrees were returned (for the first time during Soviet rule): the Order of the Patriotic War (I and II degrees) and later - the Order of Glory (I, II and III degrees), which has already been discussed.
Order "Victory"
The name is telling. And why it became one of the symbols of victory later, after 1945, is also understandable. One of the three main symbols.
His ribbon combines the colors of 6 other Soviet orders, separated by white spaces half a millimeter wide:
- Orange with black in the middle - Order of Glory (along the edges of the tape; those same colors hated by Nevzorov and some modern “communists”)
- Blue - Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky
- Dark red (Bordeaux) - Order of Alexander Nevsky
- Dark blue - Order of Kutuzov
- Green - Order of Suvorov
- Red (central section), 15 mm wide - Order of Lenin (the highest award in the Soviet Union, if anyone doesn’t remember)
Today, when people like to rewrite history, it would not be harmful to remember with what respect these orders awarded to the allies are kept abroad:
- Eisenhower's award is located in the 34th President of the United States Memorial Library in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas;
- Marshal Tito's award is on display at the 25 May Museum in Belgrade (Serbia);
- Field Marshal Montgomery's decoration is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London;
“The Order of Victory, as the highest military order, is awarded to senior command personnel of the Red Army for the successful conduct of such military operations on the scale of several or one front, as a result of which the situation radically changes in favor of the Red Army.”Victory symbols
Now let's draw simple and obvious conclusions.
Tens of millions of soldiers are returning home from the front. There is some percentage of senior officers, a little more of junior officers, but mostly privates and sergeants.
Everyone has the Victory Medal. Many have the Order of Glory, and some also have 2-3 degrees. It is clear that full cavaliers are especially honored, namely their portraits in the press and at meetings, concerts and other public events - there they are, too, with all their orders.
The naval guardsmen also, naturally, wear their insignia with pride. Like, they're not cut out for it - the guards!
So, pray tell, is it surprising that three symbols become the main, most popular and recognizable: the Order of Victory, the Order of the Patriotic War and the St. George Ribbon?
Who is not happy with the St. George ribbon on today's posters? Well, let's all come here, let's watch the Soviet ones. Let's look at how they "replaced history."
“We’ve arrived!”
One of the most famous posters. Drawn shortly after the Victory. And it already contains the symbolism of this Victory. There was a little background.
In 1944, Leonid Golovanov on his poster “Let's get to Berlin!” portrayed a laughing warrior. The prototype of the smiling hero on the march was a real hero - the sniper Golosov, whose front-line portraits formed the basis of the famous sheet.
And in 1945 the already legendary “Glory to the Red Army!” appeared, in the upper left corner of which the artist’s previous work is quoted:
So, here they are - the true symbols of Victory. On the legendary poster.
On the right side of the Red Army soldier’s chest is the Order of the Patriotic War.
On the left is the Order of Glory (“unpopular,” yeah), the medal “For Victory” (with the same St. George’s ribbon on the block) and the medal “For the Capture of Berlin.”
The whole country knew this poster! He is still recognized today. Perhaps only “The Motherland is Calling!” is more popular than it. Irakli Toidze.
Now someone will say: “It’s not difficult to draw a poster, but in life it wasn’t like that.” Okay, here you go"in life"
Ivanov, Viktor Sergeevich. Photo from 1945.
Here's another poster. How is the star edged?
Okay, this is the end of the 70s, someone will say that it’s not true. Let's take something from the Stalin years:
Well? "Vlasov ribbon", yes? Under Stalin? Seriously?!!
How did Nevzorov lie? “The ribbon was unknown in the Soviet Army.”
Well, we see how she “wasn’t famous.” Already under Stalin it became both a symbol of the Red Army and a symbol of Victory.
And here is a poster from the Brezhnev era:
What's on the fighter's chest? Only one only “an unpopular and even little-known order,” as far as I can see. And nothing more. By the way, this emphasizes that the fighter is a private. There is no cult of "commanders", this was a feat of the people.
(By the way, most of the posters are clickable).
And here’s another one, for the 25th anniversary of the Victory. The year 1970 is written on the poster:
And the glorious date is written “an unknown ribbon in the Soviet army”, which"is not a symbol of Victory."
Look what's going on! What is our current government like? And it reached 1945, and in the 60s She slipped “fake” ones into the 70s!
And here they are again! “Their” ribbon again:
“USSR postcard for May 9
"May 9 - Victory Day"
Publishing house "Planet". Photo by E. Savalov, 1974
.
Order of the Patriotic War, II degree"
And here's another one again:
In 1769, Empress Catherine 2 established an award for officers of the Russian Army, awarded for personal courage shown on the battlefields - the Order of St. George, it was supposed to be worn on a “silk ribbon with three black and two yellow stripes”, subsequently the name was assigned to it - St. George's ribbon.
What do black and yellow mean? In Russia, they were the imperial, state colors, corresponding to the black double-headed eagle and the yellow field of the state coat of arms. It was precisely this symbolism that Empress Catherine II apparently adhered to when approving the colors of the ribbon. But, since the order was named in honor of St. George the Victorious, the colors of the ribbon perhaps symbolize St. George himself and indicate his martyrdom - three black stripes, and his miraculous resurrection - two orange stripes. It is these colors that are now called when designating colors St. George Ribbon. In addition, a new award was awarded exclusively for military exploits. And the colors of war are the color of flame, that is, orange, and smoke, black.
Some of the first holders of the Order of St. George were participants in the naval battle in Chesme Bay, which took place in June 1770. In this battle, the Russian squadron, under the overall command of Count A.G. Orlov, completely defeated the superior Turkish fleet. For this battle, Count Orlov was awarded the Order of St. George, first degree, and received the honorary prefix “Chesmensky” to his surname.
First medals St. George's ribbon were awarded in August 1787, when a small detachment under the command of Suvorov repelled an attack by a superior Turkish landing force trying to capture the Kinburn fortress. Suvorov, who was in the forefront of the fighting and inspired them by personal example, was wounded twice in this battle; the courage of the Russian soldiers allowed them to defeat the Turkish landing. For the first time in Russian history, the medal was not awarded to everyone who took part in the battle; it was awarded only to those who showed the greatest personal courage and heroism. Moreover, it was up to the soldiers who took direct part in the hostilities to decide who was more worthy of the award. Among the twenty awarded for this battle was the grenadier of the Shlisselburg regiment Stepan Novikov, who personally saved Suvorov from the Janissaries who attacked him. Black and orange ribbons were also used for other medals of this war, which were awarded to participants in the heroic assault on Ochakov and those who distinguished themselves during the capture of Izmail.
St. George's ribbon at Russian awards.
The ribbon of the Order of St. George begins to occupy a special position in the design of military awards given for personal bravery. This was also reflected in the collective awards given to various military units of the Russian Army. These include the so-called St. George's pipes, introduced in 1805. These pipes were made of silver; the image of the St. George's Cross and an inscription indicating why this distinction was given were applied to the body. In addition, a lanyard made of black and orange ribbon was attached to the pipe. There were two types of pipes - cavalry and infantry. The differences between them were in their shape. The infantry one was curved, and the cavalry one was straight.
Since 1806, St. George's Banners have appeared among collective incentives. At the top of these banners there was a white order cross, and under the top a St. George ribbon with banner tassels was tied. The first to receive such a banner were the Chernigov Dragoon Regiment, two Don Cossack regiments, the Kiev Grenadier and Pavlograd Hussar regiments. They were awarded “For their exploits at Shengraben on November 4, 1805 in a battle with an enemy consisting of 30 thousand.”
In 1807, Emperor Alexander 1 established a special award for the lower ranks of the Russian Army for personal courage in battle, which was called the Insignia of the Military Order. The wearing of the cross was prescribed on a ribbon, the colors of which corresponded to the colors of the Order of St. George. It was from this period that popularity St. George's ribbon becomes popular, since the common Russian people saw such awards much more often than golden orders of officers of the Russian Army. This sign later received the name soldier's or soldier's George (Egory), as it was popularly called.
Since 1855, officers who received the golden weapon “For Bravery” were ordered to wear lanyards from the St. George Ribbon for a more visible distinction.
Also in 1855, the medal “For the Defense of Sevastopol” was established. For the first time in the history of the Russian Empire, a medal was awarded not for a heroic victory, but specifically for the defense of a Russian city. This medal was silver, intended for both military officials and civilians who participated in the defense of Sevastopol. For generals, officers, soldiers and sailors of the Sevastopol garrison who served there from September 1854 to August 1855, the medal was awarded on the St. George Ribbon.
Military distinctions and clergy were not spared. Back in 1790, a special decree was issued to reward military priests for their exploits while participating in military battles. At the same time, the award golden pectoral cross on the St. George ribbon was established. Many of the regimental priests of the Russian Army took direct part in the combat operations of the Russian troops and earned this high distinction with their heroic deeds. One of the first to be awarded the pectoral cross was regimental priest Trofim Kutsinsky. During the storming of the Izmail fortress, the battalion commander, in which Father Trofim was a priest, died. The soldiers stopped in confusion, not knowing what to do next. Father Trofim, unarmed, with a cross in his hands, was the first to rush at the enemy, dragging the soldiers along with him and supporting their fighting spirit. In total, during the period from the establishment of the golden pectoral cross to the Russo-Japanese War, one hundred and eleven people were awarded it. And behind each such award there was a specific feat of the regimental priests of the Russian Army.
Approved back in 1807, the medal “For Bravery”, also worn on a black and orange ribbon, was assigned to the Order of St. George in 1913 and became, along with the Cross of St. George, the most popular soldier’s medal awarded for personal bravery.
During the existence of the black and orange ribbon of St. George, from its appearance in 1769 until 1917, it was an indispensable attribute of a variety of awards of the Russian Empire awarded for military courage. Golden officer's crosses, lanyards of golden weapons, insignia, medals, as well as collective - silver trumpets, banners, standards. Thus, in the award system of Russia, a whole system of military rewards was formed, among which the St. George Ribbon was a kind of connecting link of them all into a single whole, representing a symbol of military valor and glory.
The day of the establishment of the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George on November 26, 1769 in the history of Russia was considered the Day of the Knights of St. George. This day was celebrated annually. On this day, not only in the capital of the empire, but also in almost all corners of the Russian land, holders of St. George's honors were honored. Everyone was honored, regardless of rank and title, since the feats that these people accomplished were performed not in the name of awards, but in the name of their Fatherland.
Not only in Wikipedia you can find out what the St. George Ribbon means, on the site you are now viewing detailed information and images of most of the awards worn on this glorious ribbon: more than a hundred images of various designs. Large selection of authentic ones.
I recommend watching the video story created in the form video for Igor Rasteryaev’s song “St. George’s Ribbon”, pictures, photos of the war years are interspersed with video sketches from the expedition of the Rubezh search club, which was engaged in finding and burying the remains of Soviet soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War. The result was very emotional and, most importantly, lively, real pictures illustrating the words of a popular song, as if at a battle site... “soldiers lie and sprout new forests,” “three per square meter,” as if to personally hear the voice of the dead, who felt, that they had finally come to the place of the last battle:
Dig me up bro
I'm Sanya Vershinin.
Fifth Mortar Regiment,
I myself am from Ryazan
See how his suicide note is taken out from a sealed cartridge case hanging like a medallion on the neck of a dead Red Army soldier. How carefully they unwrap a piece of paper that has decayed over time, with the hope that the name and surname of the deceased soldier could be preserved there. This is a great success; it will make it possible to write the names of the heroes on the grave being created and reduce the number of nameless soldiers missing in action during the years of the last war, and convey to relatives the news about the created burial of their father or grandfather.
You won’t feel all this by re-reading articles on Wikipedia, but you can see and really feel it by watching video sketches created by search engine guys in the format of a video for a song by Igor Rasteryaev. It is from them that one can understand what the St. George Ribbon means, what significance it has acquired in our time of peace, how the black and orange ribbon has become a symbol of memory of the fallen defenders of the Motherland.
