Order of St. Olav

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Kongelige Norske St. 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 Commander with Star Commander Knight 1st class Knight
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

An early design of the collar of the Order of St. Olav

The Star of The Order of Saint Olav

The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (Norwegian language: Den Kongelige Norske St. 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 royals 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.

The order is divided into five classes and may be awarded for either civilian or military contributions, the Collar is awarded as a separate distinction of the Grand Cross to those recipients deemed exceptionally worthy, in descending order of distinction:

• 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.

The Norwegian king also awards the St. Olav's Medal (St. Olavsmedaljen) in gold and silver for "activities for the benefit of society," but these do not confer upon the recipient membership in an order.

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

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.

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

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 15 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 16.

The medal is ranked third in the general ranking of Norwegian orders and medals for use when wearing more than one medal.

Current holders of the Grand Cross

This list contains 90 holders of the Grand Cross, 21 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 was last updated on 27 January 2013.

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

See also

• Orders, decorations, and medals of Norway

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.