Order of the Star of India of India and other flags used to represent British India. The order was the fifth most senior British order of chivalry, following the Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Order of St Patrick and Order of the Bath. It was the senior order of chivalry associated with the British Raj; junior to it was the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, and there was also, for women only, the Imperial Order of the Crown of India. Several years after the Indian Mutiny and the consolidation of Great Britain's power as the governing authority in India, it was
Order of chivalry of the recipient. Both orders and decorations often come in multiple classes. Most orders created since the late 17th century were no longer societies and fellowships of knights who followed a common mission but were established by monarchs or governments with the specific purpose of bestowing honours on deserving individuals. In most European monarchies, these new orders retained some outward forms from the medieval orders of chivalry (such as rituals and structure) but were in essence orders of merit, mainly distinguished from their republican counterparts by the fact that members were entitled to a title of nobility. While some orders