History

This Order was established by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, in commemoration of the events associated with Norway's Coat-of-Arms, and the intention to create an Order for Norway that had the same precedence as the Swedish Order of the Seraphim and the Danish Order of the Elephant.

This Order was conferred upon Royalty, as all heirs to the throne had to have the Order of the Lion, heads of state and foreign sovereigns, and the Grand Master of the Order was the King.

Individuals eligible to receive the Order of the Lion had to have rendered meritorious service for the country, be in a high governmental position, or have rendered other distinguished actions, as well as have previously been awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav.

The Order could not be conferred to more than 12 people at a time.

Although it was intended to be Norway's highest ranking Order, it was short lived. When Norway became an independent monarchy in 1905, the Order was phased out of existence.