The museum is located in a historical medieval building at Kuninga 3 in Tallinn Old Town, and the permanent exhibition consists of close to a thousand original costumes, collars, stars, badges and other items related to orders of knighthood with the oldest exhibits dating to the beginning of the 18th century.

[3] A medieval merchant's house in Tallinn Old Town – contemporary to some of the oldest orders of knighthood in the museum – was chosen as the location.

In September 2017, Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood hosted the XI European Conference of Phaleristic Societies.

The permanent exhibition is presented in three halls covering the history of orders and the awarding system and its significance in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East.

The beauty of the orders with their various symbolic distinctions and especially ribbon colours are often strongly connected to their national or principal identity.

[12] There have been several publications about the museum in the Bulletin Société des Amis du Musée de la Légion D'honneur Orders et Distinctions, France;[13] Numismaatikko, Finland;[14] Svensk Numismatisk Tidskrift, Sweden;[15] Eesti Ajalugu, Estonia,[16] and others.