Order of the Zähringer Lion

	Breast star and sash of the Grand Cross of the House Order of the Zahringer Lion
	Awarded by Grand Duke of Baden
Type	Order
Motto	FÜR EHRE UND WAHRHEIT
Status	Order
Sovereign	Grand Duke of Baden
Grades (w/ post-nominals)	Five
Established	26 December 1812
	Ribbon of the Order

This article is about the Order of the Zähringer Lion. For other uses, see Order of the Lion.

The Order of the Zähringer Lion was instituted on 26 December 1812 by Karl, Grand Duke of Baden, in memory of the Dukes of Zähringen from whom he was descended.

Classes[]

It had five classes:

Grand Cross
Commander, First Class
Commander, Second Class
Knight, First Class
Knight, Second Class

Insignia[]

The order's insignia consists of a green enameled cross with four arms of equal length, whose angles are filled out with golden clasps. The gold-edged medallion shows the tribal symbol of the Zähringers in coloured enamel. Around the circle is the order's motto, FÜR EHRE UND WAHRHEIT (FOR HONOUR AND TRUTH). On the back, the Zähringer lion is portrayed on a red background. The order's band is green with orange-yellow stripes along the edges.

For special awards, the order was granted with oak leaves and from 1866 could also be awarded with crossed swords for military services. The oak leaves originally carried an "L" cipher, which went out of use in 1866. Moreover, in exceptional cases, the grand cross award could also be covered in diamonds - only eight such awards occurred:

1815 Reinhard von Berstett, minister in Baden
1856 Graf von Keller, Oberhofmarschall and Hausmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia
1856 Heinrich von Pückler, Hofmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia
1857 Graf von Severine, diplomat of Imperial Russia
1861 Williamoff, General à la Suite of Imperial Russia
1863 Graf Stroganoff, Hofstallmeister of Imperial Russia
1875 August von Werder, Prussian general
1889 Moritz von Cohn, banker

References[]

Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon. Leipzig 1908
Badens Orden, Henning Volle, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976
Order of the Zähringer Lion on Stadtwiki Karlsruhe

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