The Order of the Zähringer Lion was instituted on 26 December 1812 by

Karl, Grand Duke of Baden , house = Zähringen , father = Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden , mother = Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt , birth_date = , birth_place = Karlsruhe , death_date = , death_place = Karlsruhe , bur ...

, 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'' (German for "FOR HONOUR AND TRUTH"). On the back, the Zähringer lion is portrayed on a red background. The order's ribbon is green with orange-yellow stripes along the edges. For special awards, the order was granted with oak leaves and from 1866, it 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

References

* ''Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon''. Leipzig 1908 * ''Badens Orden'', Henning Volle, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976 {{DEFAULTSORT:Order of the Zahringer Lion 1812 establishments in Baden Awards established in 1812 Orders, decorations, and medals of Baden