Order of St. Olav

Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden
Cross of the Order of St. Olav
Awarded by King of Norway
Type	Chivalric order with five degrees
Motto	RET OG SANDHED (Justice and Truth)
Awarded for	remarkable accomplishments on behalf of the country and humanity
Status	Currently constituted
Grand Master	King Harald V
Grades (w/ post-nominals)	Grand Cross with Collar Grand Cross Grand Commander Commander Officer Knight/Dame
Established	August 21, 1847
Precedence
Next (higher)	None (formerly the Order of the Norwegian Lion)
Next (lower)	Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
Riband of the Order of St. Olav

Design of the collar of the Order of St. Olav since 1906.

The Star of The Order of Saint Olav

The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (Norwegian: Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or Sanct Olafs Orden, the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry that was instituted by King Oscar I of Norway and Sweden on August 21, 1847, as a distinctly Norwegian order. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Nobility was abolished in Norway in 1821. Just before the union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, the Order of the Norwegian Lion was instituted in 1904 by King Oscar II, but it was not awarded by his successor Haakon VII. 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 awarded to individuals as a reward for remarkable accomplishments on behalf of the country and humanity. Since 1985, the order has only been conferred upon Norwegian citizens, though foreign heads of state and Royalty are awarded the order as a matter of courtesy.

The King awards the order upon the recommendation of a six-member commission, consisting of a chancellor, vice chancellor, the Lord Chamberlain (acting as treasurer), and three other representatives. The Lord Chamberlain nominates the members of the commission, and the monarch approves them. Nominations for the award are directed at the commission through the county governor.

Classes

The order is divided into five 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 of St. Olav (Storkors)  – awarded to heads of state as a courtesy and in rare cases to individuals for merit; wears the badge on a collar (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 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, First 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.

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. Since it was instituted, the order has been awarded approximately 19,500 times. The insignia are produced in Norway by craftsmen.

Ribbon bars
Grand Cross with Collar	Grand Cross	Commander with star	Commander	Knight 1st Class	Knight

The Norwegian king also awards the St. Olav's Medal (St. Olavsmedaljen) in silver "for services in advancing knowledge of Norway abroad and for strengthening the bonds between expatriate Norwegians and their descendants and their country of residence".^[1] The medal does not confer upon the recipient membership in an order.

Ribbon bars
Medal with Oak Leaf Branch	Medal

Insignia

The collar of the Order is in gold, with five enamelled and crowned monograms "O" (for "Oscar", the royal cipher of Oscar I, the Order's founder), five enamelled and crowned coat-of-arms of Norway, and 10 gold crosses bottony 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" (for "Oscar") 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 Olav'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" (for "Oscar") 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.^[2]

The ribbon of the Order is red with white-blue-white edge stripes.

In very exceptional circumstances the Order may awarded 'with diamonds', in which case a ring of diamonds replace the white-blue-white enamel ring surrounding the central disc on the front of the badge.

Ranking

The Order of St. Olav is the highest civilian decoration currently awarded 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 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. 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 alphabetically by last name; those recipients not possessing a last name, such as royalty and most Icelanders are collated by 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 was created in 1985, 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.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

This list was last updated on 20 March 2015.

Country	Name	Title, Position	Grand Cross with Collar	Grand Cross	Year of appointment
Austria	Heinz Fischer	President			2007
Belgium	Albert II	Former King			1964
Belgium	Mathilde	Queen			2003
Belgium	Paola	Former Queen			1997
Belgium	Philippe	King			2003
Brazil	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	Former President			2003
Bulgaria	Georgi Parvanov	Former President			2006
Croatia	Ivo Josipović	Former president			2011
Denmark	Benedikte	Princess			1974
Denmark	Frederik	Crown Prince			1990
Denmark	Henrik	Prince Consort			1968
Denmark	Joachim	Prince			1991
Denmark	Margrethe II	Queen			1958
Denmark	Marie	Princess			2014
Denmark	Mary	Crown Princess			2005
Estonia	Toomas Hendrik Ilves	President			2014
Estonia	Arnold Rüütel	Former President			2002
Finland	Martti Ahtisaari	Former President			1994
Finland	Mauno Koivisto	Former President			1983
Finland	Tellervo Koivisto	Former President's wife			1983
Finland	Sauli Niinistö	President			2012
Finland	Tarja Halonen	Former President			2000
France	Jacques Chirac	Former President			2000
France	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	Former President (when Minister of Finance)			1962
Germany	Joachim Gauck	President			2014
Germany	Roman Herzog	Former President			1998
Germany	Horst Köhler	Former President			2007
Germany	Marianne von Weizsäcker	Former first lady			1986
Greece	Constantine II	Former King			1964, 1962
Greece	Constantinos Stephanopoulos	Former President			2004
Iran	Farah Pahlavi	Former Empress			1965
Iceland	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson	President			1998
Iceland	Vigdís Finnbogadóttir	Former President			1982
Italy	Sergio Mattarella	President			2016
Italy	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi	Former President			2001
Japan	Akihito	Emperor			2001, 1953
Japan	Masako	Crown Princess			2001
Japan	Michiko	Empress			2001
Japan	Naruhito	Crown Prince			2001
Japan	Tomohito of Mikasa	Princess			2001
Jordan	Abdullah II	King			2000
Jordan	Hassan	Prince (when Crown Prince)			?
Jordan	Rania	Queen			2000
Latvia	Guntis Ulmanis	Former President			1998
Latvia	Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga	Former President			2000
Latvia	Andris Bērziņš	President			2015
Lithuania	Valdas Adamkus	Former President			1998
Lithuania	Dalia Grybauskaitė	President			2011
Luxembourg	Henri	Grand Duke			2011
Luxembourg	Jean	Former Grand Duke			1964
Luxembourg	Maria Teresa	Grand Duchess			1996
Netherlands	Beatrix	Former Queen (when Princess)			1964
Netherlands	Margriet	Princess			1964
Netherlands	Willem-Alexander	King			1996
Netherlands	Máxima	Queen			2013
Norway	Astrid	Princess			1956
Norway	Kjell Magne Bondevik	Former Prime Minister			2004
Norway	Lars Petter Forberg	Former Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household			2004
Norway	Åge Bernhard Grutle	Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household			2015
Norway	Haakon	Crown Prince			1991
Norway	Magne Hagen	Former Cabinet Secretary to the King			2000
Norway	Harald V	King	Grand Master		1955, 1991
Norway	Jørgen Hårek Kosmo	Former President of the Norwegian Parliament			2005
Norway	Märtha Louise	Princess			1989
Norway	Mette-Marit	Crown Princess			2001
Norway	Arne Omholt	Marshal of the Court			2016
Norway	Carsten Smith	Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway			2003
Norway	Sonja	Queen			1972
Norway	Berit Tversland	Cabinet Secretary to the King			2012
Poland	Bronislaw Komorowski	President			2012
Poland	Aleksander Kwaśniewski	Former President			1996
Poland	Lech Wałęsa	Former President			1995
Portugal	António Ramalho Eanes	Former President			1978
Portugal	Jorge Sampaio	Former President			2004
Portugal	Aníbal Cavaco Silva	President			2008
Romania	Emil Constantinescu	Former President			1999
Slovakia	Ivan Gašparovič	President			2010
Slovenia	Danilo Türk	Former President			2011
Spain	Cristina	Princess			1995
Spain	Elena	Princess			1995
Spain	Felipe	King			1995
Spain	Juan Carlos I	Former King			1982
Spain	Sofía	Former Queen			1982
Sweden	Carl XVI Gustaf	King			1974
Sweden	Carl Philip	Prince			2005
Sweden	Christina	Princess			1992
Sweden	Désirée	Princess			1992
Sweden	Madeleine	Princess			2005
Sweden	Silvia	Queen			1982
Sweden	Victoria	Crown Princess			1995
Thailand	Bhumibol Adulyadej	King			1960
Thailand	Sirikit	Queen			1965
Turkey	Abdullah Gül	Former president			2013
United Kingdom	Elizabeth II	Queen			1955
United Kingdom	Philip	Prince consort and Duke of Edinburgh			1952
United Kingdom	Andrew	Prince and Duke of York			1988
United Kingdom	Charles	Prince of Wales			1978
United Kingdom	Edward	Prince and Duke of Kent			1988
United Kingdom	Richard	Prince and Duke of Gloucester			1973

See also

• Orders, decorations, and medals of Norway

References

1. "The Medal of St. Olav", The Royal House of Norway. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
2. "Utnevnelse til St. Olavs Orden". Retrieved 21 September 2014.

External links

• Official website on the order
• The Collection of Henrik Revens Website features orders and medals of Norway as well as other Nordic countries.