Order of the Polar Star

Grades

The Order has five degrees:

1. Commander Grand Cross (KmstkNO) – Wears the badge on a collar (chain) or on a sash over the right shoulder, plus the star on the left chest;
2. Commander 1st Class (KNO1kl) – Wears the badge on a necklet, plus the star on the left chest;
3. Commander (KNO) – Wears the badge on a necklet;
4. Knight 1st Class (RNO1kl) – Wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
5. Knight (RNO) – Wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest.

Before 2023, clergymen and women were not called Knight, but instead made a Ledamot av andliga ståndet ("Member of the Cloth") for clergymen or a Ledamot ("Member") for women. However, since 2023, the Order makes no difference between men and women.

The Order also has a medal: the "Polar Star Medal".

Investiture

Before 1975 each royal order had their own investiture ceremony. When the royal orders were reinstated, however, this practice was not restored. Instead a new state ceremony was created in which all recipients of all orders are awarded. The new ceremony is held in the White Sea Hall of the Stockholm Palace, decorated with the banners and insignia of the royal orders. After the King and Queen are announced by the Herald of the Royal Orders, tapping his staff on the floor twice, and make their entrance to the Seraphim March, the Chancellor of the Royal Orders makes an introduction speech and the King himself delivers a speech each recipient of all orders are, one by one, one order at a time from highest to lowest in rank, announced and called upon by the Deputy Chancellor of the Royal Orders to receive their insignia from the King and shake his hand. After all recipients of a certain order have received their award, the fanfare of that order is performed before the investiture of members of the next order begins. This ceremony was first held on 31 May 2024.

Insignia and habit

• The collar of the Order is in gold, consists of eleven white-enamelled five-pointed stars and eleven crowned back-to-back monogram "F"s (for King Frederick I of Sweden) in blue enamel, joined by chains.
• The badge of the Order is a white enamelled Maltese Cross, in silver for a Knight and in gilt for a Knight 1st Class and above; crowns appear between the arms of the cross. The central disc, which is identical on both sides, is in blue enamel, with a white-enamelled five-pointed star surrounded by the Order's motto Nescit occasum ("It knows no decline"). The badge hangs from a royal crown.
• The star of the Order is a silver Maltese cross, with a silver five-pointed star at the centre. The star of a Grand Cross also has straight silver rays between the arms of the cross.
• The ribbon of the Order is black. From 1975–2023 it was blue with yellow stripes near its borders (see above). In spring 2013, the Grand Master decided that Swedish royal princes would wear the Order with the original black ribbon, while other members would still use the blue with yellow stripes. From 2023, the black ribbon was used again. The last black ribbon 18kt gold Knight class prior to 2023 was awarded in 1988 to historian George Loper of Bridgeton, New Jersey, for his research which was the basis for the New Sweden Farmstead Museum. This was presented by the King.
• The Order used to have a distinctive red and white habit worn on formal occasions such as at chapters of the Order. The habit included red breeches and red doublet, both with padded shoulders and white piping, a white sash with a gold fringe around the waist and a red mantle with white lining. The star of the Order was embroidered on the left breast of both the doublet and the mantle. A black top hat with a gold hat band and a plume of white ostrich and black egret feathers and red boots with gilded spurs completed the habit. The collar of the Order was worn over the shoulders of the doublet. Clergymen of the Church of Sweden wore the Order around the neck with a white cassock with a red sash with a gold fringe around the waist and a red mantle with a white lining and with the star of the Order embroidered on its left side.

Recipients (since 2023)

Gallery

File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star 01.png|Grand Cross set of insignia File:Order of the Polar Star Grand Cross 5.png|Grand Cross set of insignia (1975–2023) File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star set of insignia.png|Grand Cross in its case of issue File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star - Grand Cross Star.png|Grand Cross breast star File:Order of the Polar Star Grand Cross 8.png|Grand Cross in its case of issue File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star - Grand Cross set.png|Set of the Grand Cross File:Order of the Polar Star Grand Cross 7.png|Set of the Grand Cross (1975–2023) File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star - Grand Cross badge.png|Badge of the Grand Cross File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star Commander grades (Pre & Post-1975).png|Pre and Post-1975 sets of the Commander grade of the Order File:Order of the Polar Star Grand Cross 1.png|Grand Cross (1975–2023) File:KNO1kl.jpg|Grand Officer (Commander 1st Class) Star of the Order File:Order of the Polar Star Grand Cross 2.png|Grand Cross in its case of issue File:Swedish Order of the Polar Star Commander grades sets of insignia (Pre & Post-1975).png|Pre and Post-1975 sets of the Commander grade of the Order File:Order of the Polar Star Grand Cross 6.png|Grand Cross in its case of issue (1975–2023)

References

Bibliography

• Per Nordenvall, Kungliga Serafimerorden 1748–1998. Stockholm: Kungl. Maj:ts orden, 1998.
• Order of the Polar Star, Royal Court of Sweden
• Hieronymussen, Paul; Struwing, Aage, (phot. ill.); Crowley, Christine (English trans.). Orders and Decorations of Europe in Color . The MacMillan Company. New York, 1967. Originally published as Europaeiske Ordner I Faever. Politikens Forlag, 1966. Color plates # 28-32; text pp. 126–127.
• Lawrence-Archer, J. H. The Orders of Chivalry from the Original Statutes of the Various Orders of Knighthood and other Sources of Information. London: W. H. Allen and Company, 13 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, S. W. Publishers to the India Office. 1887.

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