Most of Great Britain’s Orders of Knighthood have their origins in the Middle Ages, when select bands of knights fought in European countries to support the king or a religious ideal. Membership to these orders was highly coveted.

Orders are still surrounded by ceremony, but most of the insignia we see today was not created in the Middle Ages, but in the 16th century or later. The higher the class, the more elaborate the insignia. The full grouping of sashes, collar chains, stars and badges are generally only worn on special occasions.

As feudalism went into decline, many orders of chivalry disappeared. Some of them were resurrected at a later date, while others still exist and continue to evolve. Order insignia are generally not named and have to be returned on the death of a knight. For this reason, it’s difficult to prove they belonged to a certain person (and in many cases, replicas are manufactured by the same firms responsible for making the originals). However, Order insignia tend to be incredibly attractive.