The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by

King Oscar I Oscar I (born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; 4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859) was King of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte. The only child of King Charles XIV John, Oscar ...

on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just before the union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, the

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".King Oscar II, but no appointments were awarded by his successor,

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 ...

. The Order of St. Olav thus became the kingdom's only order of chivalry for the next 80 years. The Grand Master of the order is the reigning monarch of Norway. It is used to reward individuals for remarkable accomplishments on behalf of the country and humanity. Since 1985, appointments to the order has only been conferred upon Norwegian citizens, though foreign heads of state and royalty may be appointed as a matter of courtesy.

Grades and classes

The reigning monarch of Norway is the order's Grand Master. The order consists of three grades, of which two are divided into two classes, and may be awarded for either civilian or military contributions, in descending order of distinction. The collar is awarded as a separate distinction of the Grand Cross to those recipients deemed exceptionally worthy. *

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

(''Storkors'') awarded to heads of state as a courtesy and in rare cases to individuals for merit; wears the badge on a

collar Collar may refer to: Human neckwear *Clerical collar (informally ''dog collar''), a distinctive collar used by the clergy of some Christian religious denominations *Collar (clothing), the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck ...

(chain), plus the star on the left chest. If the collar is not worn the badge may be worn on a sash on the right shoulder; * Commander, which is divided into two classes: ** Commander with Star (''Kommandør med stjerne'') wears the badge on a necklet, plus the star on the left chest; ** Commander (''Kommandør'') wears the badge on a necklet; *

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

, which is divided into two classes: ** Knight 1st Class (''Ridder av 1. klasse'') wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest; ** Knight (''Ridder'') wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest.

Insignia

The ''collar'' of the Order is in gold, with five enamelled and crowned monograms "O", five enamelled and crowned coat-of-arms of Norway, and 10 gold ''crosses

bottony A number of cross symbols were developed for the purpose of the emerging system of heraldry, which appeared in Western Europe in about 1200. This tradition is partly in the use of the Christian cross an emblem from the 11th century, and increasi ...

'' each flanked by two battle axes with silver blades and golden shafts (The latter element is also featured in the coat of arms of the Church of Norway). The ''badge'' of the Order is a white enamelled Maltese Cross, in silver for the knight class and in gilt of the higher classes; crowned monograms "O" appear between the arms of the cross. The obverse central disc is red with the golden Norwegian lion rampart bearing a battle-axe; the reverse disc bears the King Oscar's motto «Ret og Sandhed» "Justice and Truth" in Norwegian; both discs are surrounded by a white-blue-white ring. The cross is topped by a crown; military awards have crossed swords between the crown and the cross. The ''star'' of the Order for the Grand Cross is an eight-pointed silver star with faceted rays, bearing the obverse of the badge of the Order (minus the crown on the top). The ''star'' for Commander with Star is a silver faceted Maltese Cross, with gilt crowned monograms "O" between the arms of the cross. The central disc is red with the golden Norwegian lion rampart bearing a battle axe, surrounded by a white-blue-white ring. The ''ribbon'' of the Order is red with white-blue-white edge stripes. In very exceptional circumstances the Order may be awarded "with diamonds", in which case a ring of diamonds replaces the white-blue-white enamel ring surrounding the central disc on the front of the badge as well as in the crown. The insignia are expected to be returned either upon the receiver's advancement to a higher level of the order or upon his or her death. The insignia are produced in Norway by craftsmen.

Eligibility and appointment

The King makes appointments upon the recommendation of a six-member commission, none of whom may be a member of the government, consisting of a chancellor, vice chancellor, the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...

(acting as treasurer), and three other representatives. The Lord Chamberlain nominates the members of the commission, and the monarch approves them. Nominations to the order are directed at the commission through the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

governor. Princes and Princesses with succession rights to the throne are appointed to the highest degree upon reaching their

age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...

.section 3, Statues of the Order of St. Olav

Ranking

The Order of St. Olav is the highest civilian honour currently conferred by Norway and only ranks after the military War Cross among all Norwegian decorations still awarded in the general ranking. In the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

used at the royal court of Norway, bearers of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav with collar are ranked 15th in the order of precedence, directly after the Mistress of the Robes and generals and directly before recipients of the

War Cross with Sword The War Cross with Sword (Norwegian Bokmål: ''Krigskorset med sverd, '' Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Krigskrossen med sverd'') is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leadersh ...

. Bearers of the Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav are ranked 16th.

Current holders of the Grand Cross

This list contains holders of the Grand Cross, some of whom have also been awarded the Collar and gives the year of their appointment. The list is

collated Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. Many systems of collation are based on numerical order or alphabetical order, or extensions and combinations thereof. Collation is a fundamental element of most office filin ...

alphabetically by the last name; those recipients not possessing the last name, such as royalty and most

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ers are collated by the first name. Six of the listed are not heads of states or royals; these are marked by names in bold. Before the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livi ...

was created in 1985, appointments to the Order of St Olav was awarded to members of a foreign delegation during state visits. Many holders of the Grand Cross who are not heads of state are not listed here. File:Order of Saint Olav grand cross with swords badge sash (Norway before 1905) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg, Order of Saint Olav Grand Cross with swords badge 1st Type File:Order of Saint Olav grand cross with swords badge sash (Norway 1905-1925) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg, Order of Saint Olav Grand Cross with swords badge 2nd Type File:Order of St Olav - Commander set.png, Order of St Olav - Commander File:Order of St Olav - Commander.png, Order of St Olav - Commander File:Order of St Olav - Commander with rosette.png, Order of St Olav - Commander File:Cross Norwegian Order of St. Olav.JPG, Order of St. Olav Grand Cross badge File:Grand Cross with Star of the order of st. olav.jpg, Order of St. Olav Grand Cross Star File:Order of St-Olav (Norway).jpg, Order of St. Olav Knights Class File:Order of Saint Olav grand cross star (Norway 1905-1925) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg, Order of St. Olav Grand Cross Star - 2nd Type File:Order of Saint Olav grand cross star (Norway before 1905) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg, Order of St. Olav Grand Cross Star - 1st Type File:Sankt Olavs ordens Kedja och Stjärna till Storkors.jpg, Order of St. Olav Collar and Star File:Order of Saint Olav commander star (Norway before 1905) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg, Order of St. Olav Grand Officer Star - 1st Type File:Order of Saint Olav commander badge2 (Norway before 1905) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg, Order of St. Olav Grand Officer Badge - 1st Type File:1890 års modell av Sankt olavs orden.jpg, Order of St. Olav Knight - 1st Type

References

Works cited

External links

The Order of St. Olav
Website of the Royal Court

(in Norwegian) Website of the Royal Court {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Norwegian Order Of Saint Olav Awards established in 1847 1847 establishments in Norway