Order of Santiago

ESP001 Orden de Santiago

Order was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain Santiago.
After the death of the Grand Master Alfonso de Cárdenas in 1493, the Catholic Monarchs incorporated the Order into the Spanish Crown and the pope Adrian VI forever united the office of grandmaster of Santiago to the crown in 1523.
The first Republic suppressed the Order in 1873 and, although the Restoration was re-established, it was reduced to a nobiliary institute of honorable character ruled by a Superior Council dependent on the Ministry of War, which was also extinguished after the proclamation of the second Republic in 1931.
The Order of Santiago, together with the Calatrava, Alcántara and Montesa, was restored as a civil association with the kingship of Juan Carlos I with the character of a nobiliary, honorable, and religious organization that remains as such.
The Order's insignia is a red cross simulating a sword, with the shape of a Fleur de Lis on the hilt and the arms. The knights wore the cross stamped on the Royal Standard and white cape. The cross of the Royal Standard had a Mediterranean scalp in the center and another one at the end of each arm.
James the Great - patron saint of Spain.