The Order of Santiago (Galician: Orde de Santiago, Spanish: Orden de Santiago) is founded in the twelfth century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago (St. James the Greater).

Its initial objective is to protect the pilgrim of St. James' Way and to make the Muslims of the Iberian peninsula step back.

After the death of the Grand Master Alfonso de Cárdenas in 1493, the Catholic Monarchs incorporate the Order into the Spanish Crown and the pope Adrian VI forever unites the office of grandmaster of Santiago to the crown in 1523.

The first Republic suppresses the Order in 1873 and, although reestablished with the Restoration, it is reduced to a nobiliary institute of honorable character ruled by a Superior Council dependent on the Ministry of War, which is also extinguished after the proclamation of the second Republic in 1931.

The Order of Santiago, together with the Calatrava, Alcántara and Montesa, is restored as a civil association with the kingship of Juan Carlos I with the character of a nobiliary, honorable, and religious organization that remains as such.