Today, young people perceive the St. George Ribbon as a fashion accessory, which, on the eve of the Great Victory Day, must be attached so that it is in full view. Here, not everyone knows the measure - they fix it wherever possible and impossible. Few people think why this is done, and what it actually symbolizes - only a few know. Unfortunately, not many older people can answer these questions. But this "ribbon" has a rich history that dates back to the 18th century.

The history of the emergence of the St. George's ribbon

The Russian Empress Catherine II in 1769 approved the Order of St. George. It was awarded to officers who distinguished themselves most on the fields of the Russian-Turkish war. According to etiquette, it was worn on a silk ribbon with stripes of the state colors of the Russian Empire: three black, two yellow. By the name of the order, it went down in history as St. George's.

The first cavalier of this order was Count Aleksey Grigoryevich Orlov-Chesmensky, under whose command the Russian squadron on the night of June 26 (July 7) in Chesme Bay defeated more than twice the Turkish forces. Historians will call this battle one of the largest naval battles of the era of the sailing fleet.

The medal "For Distinction in the Battle of Kinburn" on a ribbon was awarded to the most distinguished fighters who, under the command of General-General Suvorov, on October 1 (12), 1787, were able to withstand the onslaught of superior Turkish landing forces and defend the fortress of Kinburn. This was the first major victory for Russian weapons in this war. For the first and probably the only time in history, the worthy of the award was chosen by the soldiers themselves, who had just, hand in hand, repelled enemy attacks.

Ribbons of the color of the state flag of the Empire were also used for other awards, which were awarded to those who stormed the Turkish fortress of Ochakov, who showed valor during the siege and capture of Ishmael.

These awards were worn on the St. George ribbon, which was equal in value to the award received. Until the gentleman was awarded an order, cross or medal, it was an official replacement.

In view of the special veneration, entire military formations are awarded the ribbon of the Order of St. George. At the beginning of the 19th century, St. George banners were introduced as such an award. A white order cross was attached to the top, a ribbon was placed below. For the courage shown in the battle on November 4, 1805, a 5,000th corps with a French 30,000th army near the village of Schöngraben (Austria), such a banner was awarded to the Chernigov, Dragoon, two Don Cossack, Pavlovsk Hussars, Kiev grenadier regiments.

At that time, not all military formations had banners (for example, sappers), but pipes and horns for giving signals were a necessary accessory for each. Thus, a tradition arose for special merits to award units with silver pipes, which were later called St. George's. The St. George Cross, a brief description of the feat, was knocked out on the case, and the ribbon of the colors of the imperial flag served as a lanyard. They were issued several varieties - curved - for the infantry units, straight - for the cavalry.

Such a ritual existed until the moment when the Bolsheviks finally abolished the previously existing royal awards. The revival of the tape falls on the time of the severe trials of the Great Patriotic War.

Guards Ribbon

Especially in the first months of terrible battles with the Nazi troops and their allies, a symbol was needed that could raise the morale of the soldiers, lead them to attack and win. There were few awards, they had not yet managed to earn due respect, so they remembered the St. George ribbon, which for many years was the personification of Victory, courage and heroism of the Russian warrior. Although, for ideological reasons, some adjustments were made to the appearance: they changed the name to "Guards", but the essence remained unchanged.

Today, opinions about the St. George ribbon are divided. In the press and on TV, liberal-minded citizens deny her involvement in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet army, they call her "Colorado" (according to the color of the American beetle).

It is pointless to argue with them: they either do not know how to think and compare facts, or they are completely infected with the virus of Russophobia. Let us give examples that will suffice for thinking people.

Let's start with the question of why the Guards, in fact, St. George's Ribbon is a symbol of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

On the Day of signing the capitulation by fascist Germany, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree approving the medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." It was awarded to everyone who took part in the hostilities: soldiers, officers, who, due to injury or demobilization, were transferred to another job or previously dismissed from military service. Let's look at the colors framing the block.

From approval to the present time, an orange-black ribbon, the ribbon of the Order of St. George, framed the stocks of various orders of the Empire, and then the Soviet, Russian Army. They were marked by military personnel for their courage, heroism, loyalty to the Fatherland. In addition, the ribbon adorned the lanyards of award weapons, insignia, officer gold crosses, it framed the collective awards of military units - silver trumpets, banners, standards. Thus, it is a link, a symbol of military glory and valor of Russian weapons and warriors.

All data is taken from open sources, so if you have other, confirmed information, you do not agree with the facts given here, you want to dispute or supplement them, then write about it in the comments. We are grateful.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The St. George ribbon became a symbol of the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War. Now those who celebrate this Victory or honor the memory of their ancestors wear this ribbon.

But in fact, the George Ribbon appeared not after the Second World War, but much earlier, namely in 1769 during the reign of Catherine 2.

I suggest everyone to get acquainted with the history of the appearance of the St. George's Ribbon.

1769

Catherine 2 established the Order of St. George. It was supposed to be worn on a special ribbon with two yellow and three black stripes.


1770.

Commander P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadumaysky became the first holder of the Order of St. George of the first degree.

1782.

For the Order of St. George, a special house was granted where the Office of the Order and its archive, seal and treasury were located.

1806.

Award St. George's banners were introduced.

1807.

For soldiers and non-commissioned officers establishes the St. George Cross


1812.

M.I. Kutuzov became the first knight of all 4 degrees of the Order of St. George

1833

Approves the new status of the Order of St. George with a detailed listing of the distinctions for which it is awarded.

1849

The names of the Cavaliers of St. George began to be marked on the marble plaques of the St. George Hall of the Kremlin.

1855

By order of Alexander 2, the order was awarded exclusively for military merit

1917

After the October Revolution, the Order and the George Cross were abolished.

1943

The Order of Glory was established, the colors of the ribbon of which almost completely repeated the colors of the St. George ribbon.


1945

The medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Second World War 1941-1945" was established. It was supposed to be worn on a ribbon of St. George flowers.

1992

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russia restored the Order and the St. George Cross.

year 2000.

By decree of the President of Russia, the status of the restored Order was approved.

St. George's Ribbon and the Order of St. George:

Currently, the St. George ribbon is a symbol of patriotism, Russian will and the memory of the ancestors of those who died during the Second World War.

The St. George ribbon is tied absolutely everywhere - on clothes, bags, cars, ...

I suggest you tie the St. George ribbon.

How to tie a St. George ribbon:

Usually the St. George ribbon looks like this:

Let's tie the ribbon in stages:


 Stage 1

Or rather, the truth about her. In short, we are raking up the mess that the liars and demagogues have littered.

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 an exemplary performance by Nevzorov, which can be considered the quintessence of all the lies about this. 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 on themselves on May 9 as "Colorado" , according to the color of the coloring of the Colorado potato beetle, I really once gave on the air of Channel Five. Naturally, I have nothing against May 9th. But if you take it so seriously, if it is extremely important for you, then you should be extremely accurate and serious, including in symbolism .

St. George ribbon, was not known in the Soviet Army . The Order of Glory was established only in 43, not very popular, not even famous at the front , the award must have a certain historical path 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 ribbon . It was a tape and Vlasov, and the highest ranks of the SS.

Understand, no matter how we treat the Soviet state, but the color of victory, and we must treat this calmly and courageously, the color of victory is red . The red color has been raised banner over the Reichstag , under the red banners people went into the Patriotic War, not under any others. And the one who treats this holiday attentively and with pain, probably, should be accurate in observing this symbolism too.
Now let's disassemble this nonsense. By the way, Alexander Glebovich can say “thank you” for summing up almost all the main distortions, omissions and outright lies about the St. George ribbon so briefly and sensibly.

And I know, of course, that in the Soviet system of awards and signs there was no concept of "St. George's Ribbon".

But do we want to plunge into the wilds of faleristics every time like: “the ribbon is a golden-orange silk rep moire ribbon with three longitudinal black stripes applied on it with a 1 mm wide edging”?

Therefore, for simplicity of presentation, let's conditionally call it the "St. George's Ribbon" - after all, everyone understands what we are talking about? So…

Symbol of victory

Question: when did your St. George ribbon become a symbol of Victory?

Medal "For the 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 postage stamp of the USSR ( 1973 !!!)

and, for example, like this:


Guards ribbon on the Guards naval flag of the destroyer "Gremyashchiy"

Order of Glory

A. NEVZOROV:
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.
And further:
S. MINAEV:
Look, it's amazing because you are completely cynical in answering questions around which usually everyone starts picking their fingertips and saying that it was just such a time.

A. NEVZOROV:
Yes, there was no such time. We all sat in one way or another on gold chains from various oligarchs, they boasted about us, they bought us out. We tried to leave, taking with us, if possible, the golden chain.

And finally, to dot all the "i" - one more quote:
“That Berendey hut, which was built on the ruins of my homeland, is not a shrine for me”
Therefore, listening to arguments about orders, about glory, about war and exploits, about Colorado beetles and “a serious attitude to 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 figures to confirm his speculations, forgot about common sense.

He himself said that the Order of Glory was established in 1943. And the guards ribbon - and even earlier, in the summer of the 42nd. And the so-called "Russian Liberation Army" was only officially established six months later, and operated mainly in the years 43-44, while officially submitting to the Third Reich.

Tell me, can you imagine that the official military orders and insignia of the Wehrmacht coincide with the awards of the enemy army? For German generals to create military units and officially fix the use of insignia of the Soviet army in them?

It is authentically known that the "Russian Liberation Army" fought under the tricolor, and used a kind of parody of the St. Andrew's flag as symbols.

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 is 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 - the order of the 1st degree.

Think about it: also more than a million! It is not surprising that he has become one of the most popular and recognizable symbols of the Victory. It was this order - along 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 they returned (for the first time during the Soviet era!) Orders of various degrees: 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 title is speaking. And why he became one of the symbols of victory later, after the 45th year, is also understandable. One of the three main characters.


His ribbon combines the colors of 6 other Soviet orders, separated by white gaps half a millimeter wide:


  • Orange with black in the middle - Order of Glory (along the edges of the tape; the same colors hated by Nevzorov and some modern "communists")

  • Blue - Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky

  • 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 does not remember)

Let me remind you of the historical fact that Marshal Zhukov was the first to receive this order (he was twice a holder of this order), the second went to Vasilevsky (he was also twice a holder of this order), and Stalin had only No. 3.

Today, when people like to rewrite history, it will not hurt to remember with what respect these orders, which were awarded to the allies, are kept abroad:


  • Eisenhower's award is in the Memorial Library of the 34th President of the United States in his hometown of Abilene (Kansas);

  • Marshal Tito's award is on display at the May 25 Museum in Belgrade (Serbia);

  • Field Marshal Montgomery's decoration is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London;

You can evaluate the wording for the award from the statute of the order yourself:
“The Order of Victory, as the highest military order, is awarded to senior officers 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 is radically changing in favor of the Red Army.”
Symbols of victory

And now let's make simple as three pennies and obvious conclusions.

Tens of millions of soldiers are returning home from the front. There is a certain percentage of senior officers, a little more of junior officers, but mostly privates and sergeants.

The medal "For Victory" in general for everyone. Many have Orders of Glory, and some also have 2-3 degrees. It is clear that full cavaliers are especially honored, it is their portraits in the press and at meetings, concerts and other mass events - they are also there with all their orders.

The Navy Guards, too, naturally wear their insignia with pride. Like, not a bast of shields - the guard!

So what, 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 satisfied with the St. George ribbon on today's posters? Well, let's all come here, we'll watch the Soviet ones. Let's see how they "changed history."

"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 backstory.

In 1944, Leonid Golovanov on his poster "Let's get to Berlin!" depicted 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 previous work of the artist is quoted:

So, here they are - the true symbols of Victory. On the legendary poster.

On the right side of the chest of the Red Army soldier is the Order of the Patriotic War.

On the left - the Order of Glory ("unpopular", yeah), the medal "For Victory" (with the same St. George ribbon on the block) and the medal "For the Capture of Berlin".

The whole country knew this poster! He is still recognized today. More popular than him, perhaps, only "Motherland is calling!" Irakli Toidze.

Now someone will say: "It's easy to draw a poster, but it wasn't like that in real life." Okay, here you go"in life"

Ivanov, Viktor Sergeevich. Photo taken in 1945.

Here is another poster. What is the edge of the star?

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 there? "The ribbon was not known in the Soviet Army."

Well, we see how she "was not known." Already under Stalin, it became both a symbol of the Red Army and a symbol of the Victory.

And here is a poster from the Brezhnev era:

What's on the fighter's chest? 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", it was a feat of the people.
(By the way, most of the posters are clickable).

And here is another one, for the 25th anniversary of the Victory. The year 1970 is written on the poster:

And the glorious date is written "a ribbon not known in the Soviet army", which"is not a symbol of victory."

You look what's going on! What is our current government? And she reached out until 1945, and in the 60s her "Fakes" slipped, and in the 70s!

And here they are again for their own! Again "their" ribbon:

“Postcard of the USSR on May 9
"May 9 - Victory Day"
Publishing house "Planet". Photo by E. Savalov, 1974 .
Order of the Patriotic War II degree"

And here is another one again:

More recently, the St. George ribbon in our city was not available, it was given out somewhere before the Victory Day holiday, but I never got there. Well, Moscow friends did not forget and regularly supplied it.

Now, wherever you go, everywhere they lie almost like mountains - I don’t want to take it. Of course, this somewhat reduces its weight and significance for a Russian person, but it’s always like that with us - sometimes thick, sometimes empty.

It is worth remembering where and when it appeared, what it symbolizes and what it meant for the inhabitants of that vast country that was once called the Russian Empire, then the USSR, and now the Russian Federation. At the same time, we must take into account all those who have not forgotten our common homeland, even if they ended up in the far or near, as they say now, abroad.

Obviously, the St. George ribbon is associated with the name of one of our most revered saints - George the Victorious. Let me briefly remind you of who the future saint was. According to his life, he was born in the 3rd century into a Christian family in Cappadocia (or moved there in early childhood from Palestine - it is not known). But it is known that his father was tortured for professing Christianity in Cappadocia.

Already in his youth, George had an extraordinary mind, courage and physical strength, which allowed him to become one of the thousands in the army of Diocletian and the favorite of the emperor. After the death of his mother, he received a large inheritance. It would seem that a person needs everything, he had everything, but then the persecution of Christians began, he distributed all his wealth to the poor and directly to the face of the emperor declared that he was a Christian. He was arrested and, after eight days of cruel torture, he was beheaded.

I will not now talk about all the miracles that happened during the torture, those who wish can read all this in the Life of St. George. I will cite only one thing - the wife of Emperor Alexander, struck by the miracles she saw, was converted, for which she, too, was beheaded along with St. George right there in the dungeon.

In Rus', St. George has always been revered as the patron saint of warriors, farmers and cattle breeders, that is, if you estimate, the vast majority of the country's population. Considering all this, when it became necessary to mark the soldiers who distinguished themselves in battles, Catherine the Great on November 26, 1769, during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, established the St. courageous deeds or wise advice.

In addition, the ribbon was supplemented with the motto "For Service and Courage", as well as a white equilateral cross or a four-pointed gold star. At the same time, a rather large life content was attached to it. The ribbon is described as follows: "Silk ribbon with three black and two yellow stripes."

In 1913, the status of the ribbon changed slightly: "Ribbon of three black and two orange stripes, worn over the right shoulder." The colors of the tape were read as follows: black - smoke, orange - flame. Curious in this sense are the notes of the Chief Chamberlain Count Litt, who noted that "the immortal legislator, who established this order, believed that his ribbon connects the color of gunpowder and the color of fire."

However, among connoisseurs of heraldry there is an opinion that both of these colors only correspond to the colors of the state emblem of the Russian Empire - a black eagle on a golden background. Well, it's up to anyone.

In addition to the ribbon itself and the distinctive sign to it, over the next one hundred and fifty years of the existence of the Empire, other orders, medals and ribbons with its colors were established: the Order of St. George of the 4th degree - as the highest military award in the country, the Insignia of the military order - as a sign for the lower ranks, and, in fact, the St. George Cross of 4 degrees.

The insignia was established on February 13, 1807 by Alexander I as "an award for the lower military ranks for undaunted courage." This sign was worn on a ribbon of the same colors as the Order of St. George.

In 1856, four degrees of this sign were introduced. Since 1913, it has turned into a soldier's St. George's Cross. Probably, it would not be superfluous to say that over the 57 years that the Badge of Distinction of the Military Order existed, almost 2 thousand people became holders of all four degrees, that is, its full holders.

This figure, like nothing else, is the best proof that Russia had to fight almost non-stop.

So here's a little more about the two-color ribbon. It was worn on their peakless cap by all the sailors of the crews of the ships awarded the St. George flag and received the honorary title - "Guards".

After the revolution of 1917, the ribbon was forgotten, and, apparently, an important role in this was played by the fact that the ribbon was actively continued to be used in the White Army.

In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, it would seem, there was no time for awards, but it was during this period that many soldiers and commanders of the Red Army were awarded orders and medals. True, the choice was small - only 3 orders and 3 medals. There is an urgent need for new insignia of military prowess.

Here, first of all, they remembered the St. George ribbon. They called it the "Guards Ribbon" and decorated it with the badge "Naval Guard", as well as sailor caps. It happened on June 10, 1942. It was among the first new awards in the Soviet Union and fully corresponded to the pre-revolutionary St. George's Ribbon both in appearance and in status.

The image of the guards ribbon was also on the banners of the guards units. On November 8, 1943, the Order of Glory of 3 degrees was established, the block of which was made in the form of a guards ribbon. Later it was also used in the block of the medal "For the Victory over Germany".

The St. George Ribbon campaign began in 2005. The ribbon is distributed to everyone for free. It is attached to clothes, bags and car antennas as a sign of memory and respect for the feat of the victorious Soviet people.

The organizers of this action note that its main goal was “the desire at all costs not to let new generations forget who and at what cost won the most terrible war of the last century, whose heirs we remain, what and whom we should be proud of, about whom remember".

The motto of the action is "I remember, I'm proud." The ribbon is currently distributed in over 30 countries, and over 50 million ribbons have been distributed this year.

The St. George Ribbon is a public action for the distribution of symbolic ribbons dedicated to the celebration of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War, which has been taking place since 2005 at the initiative of RIA Novosti and the ROOSPM Student Community.

Since then, the action has become traditional and is held annually at the expense of enterprises and the budget from April 24 to May 12. In 2008, St. George ribbons were distributed in more than 30 countries.

Over 50 million ribbons have been distributed worldwide over the 6 years of the action. The countries in which the campaign is most active are Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Abkhazia, Belarus, Ukraine, Greece, France, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Great Britain, USA, Germany, Moldova, China, Vietnam, Belgium, Kyrgyzstan, Israel , Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

The St. George Ribbon is called "St. George's" because it is a ribbon of orders and medals of Russia - the USSR, as well as the former Russian Empire.

Such a ribbon adorned the medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", which was awarded to all combatants back in May 1945.

That is why the St. George ribbon is considered in Russia at the present time (2014) as a symbol of victory over fascism.

Then, of course, it was not advertised that this was the St. George ribbon, but many knew that this ribbon was taken from the analogue of the royal award "St. George's Cross", which was the most respected among the military. She was awarded even to ordinary soldiers (soldier's St. George's Cross).

But that's not all. The fact is that the St. George Cross appeared in Russia only in 1807, but before that there was the Order of St. George, established back in 1769 by Empress Catherine. He also had a yellow and black ribbon.

Saint George himself was very respected in Rus'. George the Victorious is a symbol of the city of Moscow. This is a man canonized as a saint during the years of persecution of Christianity (4th century). Torturers and executioners could not defeat him, as he constantly came to life and again preached the teachings of Christ. He was invincible.