The Order was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is celebrated as ‘Our Lady of the Annunciation.’ To commemorate the ‘fifteen joys of the Virgin,’ the Order initially had fifteen Knights and fifteen Chaplains, who said fifteen masses every day; the Order’s original statutes had fifteen clauses.
​The Order was reserved only for members of the nobility, who swore allegiance to their sovereign. The main rule declared all knights equal among themselves, united in a military and religious ‘fraternity.’ This is probably why the Order has only one rank. All the Knights had an equal say in the decisions concerning the admission of new members, who were elected unanimously.
At its inception, the Order had fifteen knights. In 1409, Amadeus VIII (1383-1451), Count of Savoy, later elevated to the first Duke of Savoy in 1416, gave the Order its first known statutes. In 1518, Amadeus VIII’s statutes were amended and reformed by Duke Charles III (1486-1553) who extended the Order to five more knights. Further amendments were made in 1570 by Duke Emmanuel Philibert (1528-1580), and thereafter by succeeding Grand Masters. The most recent changes were promulgated on June 11, 1985 by H.R.H. Prince Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, the current hereditary Grand Master of the Order.​ The head of the Royal House of Savoy continues to confer the Order, though very rarely. A recent recipient was H.S.H. the late Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The Annunziata is now bestowed only upon members of royal families and heads of state. Today, in addition to senior members of the Savoy family, its members also include H.M. the King of Spain, H.M. the King of The Belgians, and H.I.M. the Emperor of Japan.
​​The Order has only one rank and is limited to twenty knights. The first insignia was a goldplated silver collar with the motto, fert, inside a ring with three Savoy knots. The Order, however, has two sets of insignia, the Piccola Collana (Small Collar) and the Grande Collana (Large Collar). The primary and oldest insignia of the Annunziata is the collar. It consists of a solid gold medallion of the collar, which portrays the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel. The medallion is surrounded by three intertwined Savoy knots, decorated with small crosses fleury, and in the upper center, between two of the Savoy knots, a cluster of rays with a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, is also depicted in gold. The badge is suspended from a gold chain made up of fifteen ornate gold sections, each of which is linked by a Savoy knot. The star of the Annunziata, which was first used in 1680 is gold and also has a representation of the Annunciation in a medallion in the center which is set within a gold cross of four pommels. This is surrounded by a cluster of gold rays.