Order of Queen Tamar

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The Order of Queen Tamar (Georgian: თამარ მეფის ორდენი) was a Georgian military decoration which was introduced for issue, late in 1915, to personnel who distinguished themselves on behalf of the independence of Georgia in the World War I and its immediate aftermath. It was awarded to about 3,000 officers and soldiers of the Georgian Legion (a Georgian volunteer unit within the German army) and the German Caucasus Expedition which remained in Georgia until October 1918. The Order was a de facto decoration awarded by the independence movement of Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia, but was then officialized by the government of the newly independent Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918).

The Order was named after Queen Tamar of Georgia, who reigned from 1184 to 1212 and presided over what is commonly referred to as the Golden Age of Georgia.

The insignia was designed as a "badge" consisting of an eight-pointed rayed star worn on the left breast. The central medallion depicted the head of Queen Tamar within a circle inscribed, in Georgian letters, ქართული ლეგიონი 1915 (Georgian Legion 1915).

[edit] References

• Lang, David Marshall (1962), A Modern History of Georgia, p. 182. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.