[1] The order was initially a purely military honour that was conferred on general and flag officers in two classes: The Order of the Star of South Africa was expanded on 17 October 1978 when a civilian division in five classes was added.

[5] The five classes are: In 1988 the Civilian Division was renamed the Non-military Division and eligibility for the honours was extended to include senior police, railways police, prisons and intelligence officers, as well as foreign military attachés.

The post-nominal letters CSSA, OSSA and MSSA were retrospectively authorised for the non-military division in 2005.

The obverse of the SSA and SSAS classes in both divisions have protea flowers between the arms of the cross.

[1][5] In the non-military division, the ribbons are dark blue with different combinations of orange and white bands: Eight-pointed breast stars, displaying the obverse of the decoration, are also worn by the SSA and SSAS recipients.