It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia.

Today, the Russian Imperial Order of St. Anna, awarded by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is recognized as an order of chivalry by the privately operated ICOC[1] as a continuation of the pre-Revolutionary order, and has been approved for wear with military uniform by the Russian Federation, but not by some members of the Romanov Family Association.

The motto of the Order is "Amantibus Justitiam, Pietatem, Fidem" ("To those who love justice, piety, and fidelity").

The statutes of the Order promulgated in 1735 established as the principal insignia a red-enameled gold cross, with an image of Saint Anne imposed upon the centre of the cross; the reverse bore the initials "A.I.P.F."

The title of Chekhov's well-known story Anna on the Neck refers both to the Order and to the heroine.

In Chapter IV of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov guesses that Luzhin must have, "...the Anna in his buttonhole and that he puts it on when he goes to dine with contractors or merchants."