The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (; ) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens living abroad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs diplomats, foreign civil servants in Norway, and Norway's honorary consuls for "outstanding service in the interests of Norway". Its counterpart, the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, is generally only awarded to Norwegian citizens living in Norway.
Structure and insignia The reigning monarch, King Haakon VIII, is the Grand Master of the Order. The order has five grades: Grand Cross, Commander (which is further subdivided into Commander with Star and Commander), and Knight (which is further subdivided into Knight 1st Class and Knight).
The Order is characterized by a ribbon of deep blue moiré. The Grand Cross is worn on a broad sash that hangs over the right shoulder. The Commander's Cross is worn around the neck on ribbon of the Order. The Knight's Cross is worn over the left breast on a ribbon. Women wear both the Commander's Cross and the Knight's Cross over the left breast on a ribbon of the Order that has been fashioned into a bow. Unlike the Order of St. Olav, the insignia of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit are the property of the recipient.
Conferment Applications are submitted through the Protocol Department of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The King receives the applications and confers the Order based on the council of the Lord Chamberlain of the Court, the Chief Protocol of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Head of Chancery of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.
Recipients
HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium (2003) HRH Princess Claire of Belgium (2003 HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium (2003) HRH Prince Lorenz of Belgium (2003) HRH Prince Ali bin Hussein (2000) HRH Princess Rym al-Ali (2020) HRH Princess Alia bint Hussein (2000) HRH Princess Zein bint Hussein (2000) HRH Prince Talal bin Muhammad (2000) HRH Princess Ghida Talal (2000) HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad (2020) Faisal Al-Fayez (2020) Gabriele Albertini Juliana Awada Krister Bringéus Maria Cavaco Silva Armand De Decker Laurent Fabius Werner Fasslabend Jaime Gama Jenni Haukio Yousef Huneiti (2020) Toomas Hendrik Ilves Jean-Claude Juncker Kim Jung-sook Ben Knapen (2021) Vytautas Landsbergis Thomas A. Loftus Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva Narendra Modi (2026) Sauli Niinistö John D. Ong Juan M. Ortiz de Rozas (2016) Christian Poncelet Omar Razzaz (2020) Eliza Reid Ayman Safadi (2020) Hide Sakaguchi (2024) Franz Schausberger Wolfgang Schüssel Yousef Shawarbeh (2020) Antonio Tajani (2023) Guy Verhofstadt Pieter van Vollenhoven
Commanders with Star Keith B. Alexander
Edminas Bagdonas Grażyna Bernatowicz Micael Bydén Sverker Göranson Fred Kavli Retno Marsudi Franklin Miller
Rasa Rastauskienė Riho Terras Volker Wieker
Commanders Amjad Adaileh Elżbieta Bieńkowska Bjørn Olav Blokhus Stéphane Braunschweig Marius Haas Kjell H. Halvorsen John Hamre Helga Hernes Haakon Baardsøn Hjelde Mariss Jansons Lars-Emil Johansen Krzysztof Krajewski Irena Lichnerowicz-Augustyn Erik Mose Klaus Naumann Fred H. Nomme Arild Retvedt Øyen Jan Paulsen Svein Sevje Ingebjørg Støfring Conrad Swan Yury Yevdokimov
Knights Brian Bell Jostein Helge Bernhardsen Martin Tore Bjørndal Sissel Birgitte Breie Lisa Campbell (1994) Tove Irene Dahl Finn Kristen Fostervoll Gary L. Gandrud
Stephen E. Harding Thorir Hergeirsson Charles Letts Bernard Loew Odd S. Lovoll Sverre Lyngstad Tiina Nunnally (2013) Margaret Hayford O'Leary (2016) Knut Ødegård David Olson John Jason Pantages Ronald Stubbings (1999) Didrik Tønseth (diplomat) Sjur Torgersen Heiko Uecker Jarka Vrbová Jon Westborg
Unknown Classes Aqel Biltaji Dinna Bjørn Rut Brandt Ingvard Havnen Graham John Hills Wilhelmina Holladay Stanisław Koziej Carl Epting Mundy Jr. Kathie L. Olsen Oda Sletnes
See also Orders, decorations, and medals of Norway
References
External links The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit Website of the Royal Court Statutes of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (in Norwegian) Website of the Royal Court