North Star Order

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Grand Cross

The Royal North Star Order ( Swedish Kungliga Nordstjärneorden ) is the second highest order of merit in the Kingdom of Sweden . It was donated on April 28, 1748 by King Friedrich I on his 72nd birthday. It used to be called the Black Ribbon .

Medal award

Tage Reedtz-Thott, Danish politician and Prime Minister with the major star of the North Star Order (center, second order from below)

Originally, the North Star Order was awarded to nationals and foreigners as a civil merit order for outstanding civil service, loyal service to the state and the royal family as well as cultural, scientific and technical achievements.

With the reform of the order of 1975, the award was restricted to foreigners and stateless persons who had personally championed Sweden and Swedish interests. In order to prevent that the order would one day be awarded by a head of state who is not himself a member of the order, since 1995 the members of the Swedish royal family have received it again.

All medal insignia must be returned after the owner's death.

Order classes

On October 14, 1844, the order was divided into three classes and the second class into two levels in an amendment to the statutes :

Only bishops who had previously been knights of the order could become commanders of the grand crosses of the clergy . They only wear the star on their cloak and not around their neck on a chain, like the commanders of the worldly class. Commanders are the princes of the royal house and all seraphine knights . This class could only be achieved by persons whose civil status was connected with the title of troman (dear faithful) and who already had another medal.

The number of commanders, excluding the foreigners and the seraphine knights, should not exceed 24 for the secular class and six for the spiritual class. The number of knights for the secular class was 50 and for the clerical class 16. All knights received an accolade .

Order decoration

The medal consists of a white cross with eight points and golden buttons with a round, blue central shield. On it is the polar star with five rays and the motto Nescit occasum (He knows no setting). Crowns are placed between the wings of the cross , and one is also placed above the cross. The star is an eight-pointed cross made of silver with rays in the angles and the pole star in the middle.

Carrying method

The medal was worn on a black ribbon by the commanders' grand crosses over the shoulder with a silver star, by the commanders I class on the neck and with a star, by the commanders II class without a star and by the knights on the left chest.

Since 1975 the ribbon has been blue with yellow borders on both sides .

The North Star Order had a special dress made of crimson velvet , with lining and undergarments made of white atlas in the style of King Gustav III introduced court costume.

Well-known medal bearers

See: Bearers of the North Star Order

literature

  • Paul Ohm Hieronymussen: Handbook of European Orders in Color. Universitas Verlag, Berlin 1966.
  • Maximilian Gritzner : Handbook of the knight and merit orders. Reprint-Verlag, Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-8262-0705-X (reprint of the 1893 edition).

Web links

Commons : Nordstern-Orden  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files