Order of the Sword

Royal Order of the Sword
*Kungliga Svärdsorden*
Royal Order of the Sword; Kungliga Svärdsorden ;
	Badge and star of the order
Awarded by the monarch of Sweden
Type	Five grade order of merit
Motto	Pro Patria
Eligibility	Military personnel
Criteria	Valour during war and service to the Armed Forces during peacetime.
Status	Active (since 1 February 2023)
Sovereign	King Carl XVI Gustaf
Chancellor	Svante Lindqvist
Grades	Commander Grand Cross (KmstkSO); Commander 1st Class (KSO1kl); Commander (KSO); Knight 1st Class (RSO1kl); Knight (RSO)
Statistics
First induction	1748
Last induction	21 March 2024
Precedence
Next (higher)	Royal Order of the Seraphim
Next (lower)	Royal Order of the Polar Star
	; Ribbon bar of the Order of the Sword; ;

The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: Royal Order of the Sword; Swedish: Kungliga Svärdsorden) is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Seraphim and the Order of the Polar Star. The motto of the order is in Latin: Pro Patria (which means "For Fatherland").

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. On 20 December 2022, the Swedish Government published a new regulation that repealed the 1974 regulation, and once again opened the Royal Orders to Swedish citizens again and reactivated the Order of the Sword and the Order of Vasa, which came in effect from 1 February 2023.^[3]^[4]

^ "Personalförändringar vid Kungl. Maj:ts Orden". Kungahuset (Official page of the Royal Court of Sweden. Archived from the original on 29 Jan 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
^ "Ordnar till tretton exceptionella svenskar". Kungl. Maj:ts Orden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-03-21.
^ "Ett offentligt belöningssystem för Sveriges främsta utmärkelser" (Media Release) (in Swedish). Justitiedepartementet, Regeringskansliet. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
^ "Förordning om Sveriges främsta utmärkelser" (PDF). Svensk författningssamling (SFS 2022:1800) (in Swedish). Regeringskansliet. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.

[1] "Personalförändringar vid Kungl. Maj:ts Orden". Kungahuset (Official page of the Royal Court of Sweden. Archived from the original on 29 Jan 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-29.

[2] "Ordnar till tretton exceptionella svenskar". Kungl. Maj:ts Orden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-03-21.

[3] "Ett offentligt belöningssystem för Sveriges främsta utmärkelser" (Media Release) (in Swedish). Justitiedepartementet, Regeringskansliet. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.

[4] "Förordning om Sveriges främsta utmärkelser" (PDF). Svensk författningssamling (SFS 2022:1800) (in Swedish). Regeringskansliet. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.

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