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. The validity of her awards is disputed by some historians and by some members of the Romanov Family Association.
Styles ; 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 ==