The Crown of Norway is the crown of the

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingd ...

and was made in Stockholm in 1818 by

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

Olof Wihlborg. The crown is a ''corona clausa'' (closed model) consisting of a ring carrying eight hoops made of gold and surmounted by a

monde A ''monde'', meaning 'world' in French, is an orb located near the top of a crown. It represents, as the name suggests, the world that the monarch rules. It is the point at which a crown's half arches meet. It is usually topped off either w ...

of blue enamel and an amethyst cross on top of it. The crown is decorated with many

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

s and gemstones including amethysts, chrysoprases, a topaz and an alexandrite. Its front is adorned with a huge green

tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral group in which boron is compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is a gemstone and can be found in a wide variety of colors. The te ...

, a gift of the Brazilian consul in Stockholm to King Charles III Johan. Its splendid colours and its richly elaborated ornaments make the crown typical of the Empire period. Although the goldsmith work was carried out by Olof Wihlborg, it is not known who designed the crown. The Crown has a height of 24.5 cm, a diameter of 18.5 cm by 20.7 cm and a weight of 1500

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...

s. The Crown has been used at four coronations and has had a prominent place at two benedictions. It has also been placed on the coffin of the deceased monarch since King Carl Johan's death in 1844. The '' Royal Regalia of Norway'' is a collective term for three crowns, two orb and sceptres, the sword of state, the

anointment Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or oth ...

horn, and a marshal's baton. When Carl III Johan of Norway (Charles XIV John of Sweden) came to the throne in 1818, it was clear he would be crowned in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

as prescribed by the

Norwegian Constitution nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction = Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , ...

. None of the medieval Norwegian crowns or other regalia had survived, so the King himself ordered and paid for the items. The

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...

and Queen Maud in 1906 was the last to be held before the coronation requirement was removed from the Constitution. However, both the King's Crown and the Queen's Crown were placed on the altar during the Service of Consecration and Blessing for

King Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

and

Queen Sonja Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relation ...

in 1991. The Regalia are kept in Nidaros Cathedral and are on display there.

In heraldry

The official crown of Norway has its official heraldic rendition. This design has been changed over the years and is most commonly recognised sitting atop the

coat of arms of Norway The coat of arms of Norway is the arms of dominion of king Harald V of Norway, and as such represents both the monarch and the kingdom (nation and the state). It depicts a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and ax ...

. However, many sections of government and especially the military are permitted to use the Crown of Norway on their shields. The use of the crown is heavily regulated and must always be displayed at the top of any page or other display. The demi-lion on top of the crown was used by Norwegian governmental authorities from 1905, but was often omitted from about the year 1920, and officially omitted in the Royal Decree on the "arms of the realm" (Norwegian: ''riksvåpenet'') from March 19, 1937. The demi-lion was omitted from the Royal Coat of Arms of Norway when it was redesigned for the present king, Harald V.

External links and sources

Official home page for the crown jewels, page on the Crown

Home page of the Norwegian Royal Regalia

Nidaros Cathedral , The Crown Jewels

{{Types of Crowns Crown jewels

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

National symbols of Norway Norwegian monarchy State ritual and ceremonies

In heraldry

See also

External links and sources