Insignia of Imperial Chivalry of St. George

The flag of the Order bears a black ten pointed cross, with a double-headed eagle between each arm of the cross.  In the center of the cross, a red circle with a double-headed eagle in the center, encircled with Kaiserliche Ritterschaft von St. Georg.  This blazon shall be on a field of white.

The armorial bearings of the Order bears a black ten pointed cross.  In the center of the cross, a red circle with a double-headed eagle in the center, encircled with Kaiserliche Ritterschaft von St. Georg.  This shall be displayed under a ducal mantle surmounted by a crown.

The breast badge of the Order bears a black ten pointed cross.  In the center of the cross, a red circle with a double-headed eagle, encircled with, “Kaiserliche Ritterschaft von St. Georg”.  This is placed upon a gold starburst.

The necks cross of the Order bears a black ten pointed cross, bordered by gold, with a double-headed eagle between each arm of the cross.  In the center of the cross, a red circle with a double-headed eagle, encircled with, “Kaiserliche Ritterschaft von St. Georg”.  On the top of one arm of the cross, a shield with a red Latin cross emblazoned on a white background.  The shield shall be under a Knightly helm, supported by a ribbon in the pattern black, gold, black.

The mantle of the Order shall be a white cape with collar.  On the left arm area shall be an embroidered badge of a black ten-pointed cross boarded by gold.  In the center of the cross, a red circle with a double-headed eagle, encircled with, “Kaiserliche Ritterschaft von St. Georg”. 

The mantle of the Grand Comptur shall be a white cape with collar.  On the left arm area shall be an embroidered badge of a black ten pointed cross bordered by gold.    A double-headed eagle will be between each arm of the cross.  In the center of the cross, a red circle with a double-headed eagle, encircled with, “Kaiserliche Ritterschaft von St. Georg”.

The term for Knighthood itself comes from the English knight while Chivalry comes from the French chevalerie (from Chevalier which is the French translation for the English Knight). In German, the translation for knight is Ritter, or literally rider. The names and translations for Knight came about because Knights were professional soldiers. Chivalry means and holds all the embodiments of the ideals, virtues, and characteristics of a Knight.

When the Knight would go into battle for their sovereign, they would carry banners and have designs on their shields. This is called heraldry. Heraldry was used to identify the Knight and headquarters of the Knight so his troops could know where to go, and have a rallying point during the battle. Heraldry can be best described as the medieval version of the modern military unit patch. Today's soldiers look for the distinctive unit patch to they know if a group is part of their unit or not. It is a way to identify groups of soldiers without having to approach them.

Knighthood was then originally, a profession. The profession of soldiering was very expensive to maintain. Those who could not come up with the required capital to become a Knight became serfs tied to the land. Early on, the class of Knight was not rigid as we think of it today. In the beginnings of Knighthood, anyone who could come up with the required investment and training required for mounted warfare could enter into this class. By the 12th century, this class became more rigid. It was also during this time that monks started to influence warfare. The monk’s goal was to ease the savageness of warfare. This led to a certain code of behavior, or chivalry. Chivalry never went away. In today's world, we merely call it by other names, such as the Geneva Convention. Modern soldiers live their battlefield lives by a code, which governs their actions. Because this code is ingrained within all of us, we get outraged when we here stories of soldiers killing noncombatant women and children.

Because early knights were professional soldiers, they were not necessarily nobles. Likewise, nobles were not necessarily knights. In early knighthood, the knights were the soldiers for the early nobles. For example, our modern military are professional soldiers working for the Politicians. Soldiers are not Politicians, and Politicians are not Soldiers. However, by the late 12th century, Nobles became knights more regularly. Thus, the line between the knightly classes not being part of the nobility became blurred. It became even more blurred in the 13th century when heredity entered the knightly class. This meant that knighthood was now passed down from father to son. In England, those who were eligible to become knights, but did not want to become soldiers became the gentry.