Jump to content

Order of the Norwegian Lion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Order of the Norwegian Lion
Den norske løve
Star of the Order of the Norwegian Lion
TypeSingle grade Order of knighthood
Country Norway
Ribbon
Statusrepealed by Court resolution 11 March 1952
Statistics
Last induction10 September 1904
Total inductees11
Precedence
Next (higher)none
Next (lower)Order of St. Olav
RelatedOrder of the Seraphim

Badge of the order

The Order of the Norwegian Lion was a Norwegian order of knighthood established by King Oscar II on 21 January 1904, "in memory of the glorious events associated with Norway’s venerable Coat of Arms".[1]

The order was established as an equivalent in rank to the Swedish Order of the Seraphim as knights of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav ranked below the knights of the Seraphim in the shared Swedish-Norwegian royal court. However the expansion of the Norwegian honours system received mixed reactions amongst Norwegian politicians.

The Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905 before any Norwegian knights had been appointed and King Haakon VII chose not to appoint any new knights. He formally repealed the order in a Court resolution on 11 March 1952. The last living knight was King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, who died in 1973.

King Oscar II with the ribbon and star of the order

Complete list of knights

[edit]
No Name Known for Year
Appointed
1 Union between Sweden and Norway King Oscar II Royal Family 21 January 1904
2 Union between Sweden and Norway Crown Prince Gustaf, Duke of Värmland
3 Union between Sweden and Norway Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Skåne
4 Union between Sweden and Norway Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland
5 Union between Sweden and Norway Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland
6 Union between Sweden and Norway Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
7 Union between Sweden and Norway Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke

Honorary Knights

No Name Known for Year
Appointed
1 German Empire Wilhelm II German Emperor and King of Prussia 27 January 1904
2 Austria-Hungary Franz Joseph I Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary 5 April 1904
3 Denmark Christian IX King of Denmark 10 September 1904
4 French Third Republic Émile Loubet President of France 1 December 1904

King Haakon VII formally became Grand Master on 18 November 1905, but never wore any of the order's insignias.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Order of the Norwegian Lion". kongehuset.no. September 18, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2023.