Order of the Sword

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Royal Order of the Sword

The Royal Swedish Order of the Sword (Svärdsorden) is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the Order of the Seraphim and the Order of the Polar Star.

Awarded to officers, and originally intended as an award for bravery and particularly long or useful service, it eventually became a more or less obligatory award for military officers after a certain number of years in service. There were originally three grades, Knight, Commander and Commander Grand Cross, but these were later multiplied by division into classes.

These grades proper were only given to commissioned officers, but an affiliated decoration, the Svärdstecken ("Badge of the Sword"), introduced in 1850, was given to non-commissioned officers; one thus decorated would call himself a svärdsman ("Sword man").

The order is no longer awarded since 1975.

1 Grades
2 Insignia
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Grades

The Order of the Sword in peacetime had five classes:

Commander Grand Cross - wears the badge on a collar (chain) or on a sash on the right shoulder, plus the star on the left chest;
Commander 1st Class - wears the badge on a necklet, plus the star on the left chest;
Commander - wears the badge on a necklet;
Knight 1st Class - wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
Knight - wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;

plus the Badge of the Sword and the Medal of the Sword, both worn on a ribbon on the left chest.

[edit] Insignia

The collar of the Order was in gold, with nine blue enamelled swords with belts and nine "Amazon" shields.

The badge of the Order was a white enamelled Maltese Cross in saltire (i.e. "X" shaped), in silver for Knight class and in gilt for the Knight 1st Class and above; crowns appeared between the arms of the cross. The obverse central disc bore an upright sword amongst Three Crowns on a blue enamelled background; the reverse central disc had an upright sword going through a wreath, and the Latin motto "Pro Patria" (For Fatherland) on a blue enamelled background. The badge was topped by a crown; blue enamelled crossed swords (pointing inwards) appeared between this crown and the cross; for the two highest classes additional blue enamelled crossed swords (also pointing inwards) appeared on the sides and at the bottom of the cross.

The Badge of the Sword was similar to the knight's silver badge of the Order, but the cross had no white enamel.

The star of the Order was a silver Maltese Cross, the central disc bore an upright sword amongst Three Crowns on a blue enamelled background. That of Grand Cross also had golden crowns and short silver triangular rays between the arms of the cross.

The ribbon of the Order was yellow with blue edge stripes.