Gyldenstjerne, also spelled Gyldenstierne and in Swedish Gyllenstierna (English: Golden Star), is a Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish noble family divided into various branches and ranks. It is one of the oldest noble families in Scandinavia. The first known man was knight Nils Eriksson to Ågård in Jutland, Denmark, who is mentioned in 1314. The family has a prominent position in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish history. It belonged to the higher nobility, and paradoxically, in Sweden it supported the absolute monarchy. Highest stood the noblewoman Kristina Nilsdotter Gyllenstierna, who as Sten Sture the younger's wife was regent consort of Sweden.
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The oldest known man is the knight Lord Nils Eriksson to Ågård, who is mentioned in 1314. He was the father of Lord Erik Nilsson to Ågård, who got the son Lord Nils Eriksson to Ågård. With Nils the younger's sons Knud, Peder, and Erik Nilssøner, the family was divided into three primary branches: Restrup, Ågård, and Demstrup.
The family in Denmark became extinct in 1729.
The Danish knight Mogens Henriksen Gyldenstierne († 1569) was from 1527 feudal lord on Akershus, and after him came his relative Erik Olufsen Gyldenstierne († 1536). The Danish minister Alex Gyldenstierne (ca. 1542–1603) was in the years 1588–1601 Governor-general of Norway.
In the first part of the 1400s, the family came to Sweden with Erik Eriksson to Fågelvik, who after a while married Karl Knutsson Bonde's alias King Charles VIII of Sweden's daughter Kristina. Among their children was Nils Eriksson Gyllenstierna, who was the father of Kristina Nilsdotter Gyllenstierna, regent consort of Sweden.
Nils Göransson Gyllenstierna was in 1569 elevated to baronial estate. After that Scania was included as a part of Sweden, a today extinct branch of the Danish family was introduced on the House of Nobility. The Vinstrop branch became barons in 1651, while four branches received dignity of counts. All these are extinct. The untitled parts of the family are still living in Sweden.