Order of the Norwegian Lion

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]

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 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 He formally repealed the order in a Court resolution on 11 March 1952.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

NoNameKnown forYear
Appointed
1 King Oscar IIRoyal Family21 January 1904
2 Crown Prince Gustaf
3 Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Skåne
4 Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland
5 Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland
6 Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
7 Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke

Honorary Knights

NoNameKnown forYear
Appointed
1 Wilhelm IIGerman Emperor and King of Prussia27 January 1904
2 Franz Joseph IEmperor of Austria and King of Hungary5 April 1904
3 Christian IXKing of Denmark10 September 1904
4 Émile LoubetPresident of France1 December 1904

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

References

  1. Norwegian Royal House web page on the order Retrieved 15. September 2007
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