Order of the Norwegian Lion
# 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".

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 He formally repealed the order in a Court resolution on 11 March 1952.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

## Complete list of knights

| No | Name | Known for | Year Appointed |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | King Oscar II | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |
| 2 | Crown Prince Gustaf | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |
| 3 | Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Skåne | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |
| 4 | Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |
| 5 | Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |
| 6 | Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |
| 7 | Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke | Royal Family | 21 January 1904 |

Honorary Knights

| No | Name | Known for | Year Appointed |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wilhelm II | German Emperor and King of Prussia | 27 January 1904 |
| 2 | Franz Joseph I | Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary | 5 April 1904 |
| 3 | Christian IX | King of Denmark | 10 September 1904 |
| 4 | Émile Loubet | President of France | 1 December 1904 |

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

