No. 433.— Insignia of the Order of the Garter.
The Order of the Garter, a military Fraternity under the special patronage of “St. George, the good Knight,” was instituted at Windsor by King Edward III. in, or about, the year 1350—very probably in the summer of 1348, but the exact time is not positively known. It may safely be assumed, that the occasion which led to the institution of this most noble and renowned Order, was a Tournament or Hastilude of unusual importance held at his Castle of Windsor by Edward III. at the most brilliant period of his reign: and it is highly probable that the Order suggested itself to the mind of the King, as a natural result of his own chivalrous revival of a knightly “Round Table,” such as flourished in the days of King Arthur. How much of historical fact there may be in the popular legend, which professes to derive from a certain romantic incident the Title certainly borne by King Edward’s Order from the time of its original institution, it is not possible to determine: but the legend itself is not in any way inconsistent with the spirit of those times; nor would the Knights Founders of the Garter regard their Order as the less honourable, because its Title might remind them of the happy gallantry, with which the casual misadventure of a noble Lady had been turned to so good an account by a most princely Monarch. The Statutes of the Order have been continually modified and altered, and the original military character of the Institution has long ceased to exist: still, no changes in the Order of the Garter have affected the pre-eminence of its dignity and reputation. Illustrious now as ever, and foremost in rank and honour in our own country, the Garter is second to no knightly Order in the world.
The Most Noble Order of the Garter consists of the Sovereign and Twenty-five Knights Companions, of whom the Prince of Wales always is one. By a Statute of the year 1805, the Order includes such lineal descendants of George III. as may be elected: and still more recent statutes have provided for the admission of foreign Sovereigns, and also of certain “Extra Knights,” who are elected “Companions” as vacancies occur.
The Officers of the Order are—The Prelate, the Bishop of Winchester: the Chancellor, the Bishop of Oxford: the Registrar, the Dean of Windsor: the Herald, Garter King of Arms: and, the Usher of the Black Rod.
Knights of the Garter place the initials “K.G.” after their names; and these letters take precedence of all other titles, those of Royalty alone excepted.
The Stalls of the Knights are in the choir of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, where their Garter-plates are fixed, and their Banners are displayed.
The Insignia of the Order of the Garter are—The Garter itself, of a light blue originally, now of a dark blue, with border, buckle, and pendant of gold. On it, in golden letters, the Motto—HONI . SOIT . QVI . MAL . Y . PENSE—“Dishonour to him who thinks ill of it;” and not, as it is commonly rendered, “Evil to him that evil thinks.”
The Badge of the Order is circular, and formed of a buckled Garter enclosing a Shield of St. George, the whole blazoned in the proper tinctures: it is worn on the left shoulder of the blue velvet Mantle. When irradiated with eight rays of silver or diamonds, a device resembling the Badge in every respect, except that the cross of St. George is enclosed within the Garter without being charged on a Shield, forms the Star of the Order.
The Collar, of gold enamelled, is formed of twelve buckled Garters, each encircling a Tudor Rose, and as many knots of intertwined cords. Attached to this Collar is the George—a mounted figure of the Saint in the act of trampling down the dragon and piercing him with his lance. The Collar and George were added to the Insignia by Henry VII.