The State Award System of the Russian Federation has varied and distinct origins. The first being pre-1917 orders of the Russian Empire re-established after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, the second is from former Soviet orders that were slightly modified and retained post 1991, we also find many completely new awards resembling Imperial awards in basic design since the reintroduction of Russian heraldry.
Some of the Soviet awards, decorations, and orders were discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, while others are still issued by the Russian Federation as of 2021. Many of the awards were simply reworked in the Russian Federation, such as the transition of Hero of the Soviet Union to Hero of the Russian Federation, and Hero of Socialist Labour to Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation.
Originally set up following the dissolution of the Soviet Union by Decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation No. 2557-I of March 20, 1992, the statutes of all state awards was later ratified in Presidential Decree No. 442 of March 2, 1994.[1] The entire state awards' system of the Russian Federation was amended on September 7, 2010 by presidential decree No. 1099,[2] this all encompassing decree distanced modern Russian awards from their Soviet roots. Presidential Decree No. 1631 of December 16, 2011[3] amended and finalized the order of precedence of all modern Russian awards. Awards can be revoked by the State Duma if the recipient is not deemed fit to receive the award.
NOTE: Presidential Decree No. 1099 of September 7, 2010, states the following: "In order to improve the state award system of the Russian Federation that commemorative medals of the Russian Federation, awards established by federal authorities and other federal government agencies, public authorities of the Russian Federation, public and religious associations were not state awards of the Russian Federation". This serves to clarify who can be recommended for the higher state awards of the Russian Federation, many of them requiring the previous award of lower state awards to be eligible. Commemorative awards and ministerial or departmental awards do not qualify as such.[2]
Royal dynastic orders of the House of Romanov. Defunct since Soviet Union; conferred in exile.