Finally Friday (Orders of Knighthood Part 7)

We come to our final installment on why Royalty wear coloured sashes. This seven part feature on the various Orders of Knighthood has been the longest haul this blog has ever seen. I hope everybody who read it, understood it and appreciates all the "background" details that go into this blog.

Today we will feature what are referred to as Family Orders and also the Knighthoods that are either dissolved or dormant.

First up we have the Family Order of the Royal House of Swann. The insignia consisting of a a cross shaped badge and black sash worn by men or bow ribbon worn by women is rarely seen. It will mostly feature on very official occasions of particular Swanobian political significance. This was the case in the picture below when the Duke of Swann diplomatically attended the Christmas Ball in Arcwhite last year in celebration of the new "Entente Cordiale" between the two nations.

There are only ever three members of this order and the membership may change several times in a Duke of Swann's reign. The members are always, the reigning Duke, the highest ranking female family member, normally the Duke's wife but currently his sister and finally, the heir to the throne, normally the Duke's son but currently his cousin. These members are never really appointed but shift and fall in place through birth or marriage.

This detailed image shows the badge and black sash of The Family Order of the Royal House of Swann.

The Imperial Family Order of the United Empire of Scot Britania is the private gift of the Head of the Imperial Dynasty of Aldarian. Currently that position is held by the Crown Prince Imperial. This order is only bestowed on women as an Order of Merit for service rendered to the House of Aldarian. The insignia is a pink bow worn on the left shoulder.

Princess Augusta wears the pink bow and behind her the Duchess of Roswind can be seen wearing hers.

There is currently one inactive Order of Knighthood, the Ruskian Polar Star. Then there is one dissolved order, the Franconia Order of the Holy Vigil. Finally one dormant order is the Swanobian Order of the Purple Swann. The Ruskian Order as we know has been entirely absorbed by its Hanoverian counterpart and because they originated as one is now accepted again as one. The Franconian Order was entirely disbanded by the Franconian Revolution. This happened before the more recent tradition of coloured ribbands was established across the board. Therefore it is not certain what the coloured ribband for the Order of the Holy Vigil would be if it indeed had one at all. Scholars however presume it might be either white to symbolise the white dove of the Holy Spirit or orange to symbolize the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Swanobian Order of the Purple Swann was left in dormancy after the 96 Revolution and has remained so till now. It is however not officially disbanded. As such the current Duke of Swann could start knighting new members whenever he deems fit to continue the tradition. The Order has a purple ribband hung over the left shoulder and decorative cross shaped badge.

Details of the aforementioned insignia is pictured above starting at left with the Polar Star and ending with the Purple Swann.

 The Islands of Arcwhite have never had a native Order of Knighthood but the Sisters of the Monastic Order of the White Veil have for centuries acted as female knights trained in the arts of combat. To this day, martial training forms part of the rigorous disciplines a Lady of the White Veil must endure. The only symbol they display on high ceremonial occasions it the wearing of  white and a white bridal veil.

Above we see a Lady of the White Veil assisting her mistress, the Lady Arcwhite with her train.

We hope that these posts have been informative and also enjoyable. Keep your eyes peeled for these Orders of Knighthood at all the major Royal events.