On Monday morning, 22 August, His Majesty the King of Norway’s Guard paid a very special visit to RZSS Edinburgh Zoo to bestow a unique honour upon our resident king penguin Sir Nils Olav. Already a knight, the most famous king penguin in the world was given the new title of “Brigadier Sir Nils Olav”.
Well, at less than three feet tall, Brigadier Sir Nils Olav is still kind of at the bottom of the Royal Norwegian Guard. But the king penguin, who lives at the Edinburgh Zoo, is climbing the ranks — the black-and-white knight was promoted to the title of Brigadier.
The tradition of promoting a penguin is symbolic of the friendly relations between Scotland and Norway. The role of Nils Olav has actually been held by three separate penguins over the years, as king penguins only live about 15 years in the wild and slightly longer in captivity.
The ceremony was attended by 50 uniformed members of the Norwegian Guard, and the promotion was formally approved by the king of Norway. The unflappable creature walked in a parade and inspected the soldiers of the Guard (who seemed appropriately starstruck) before getting a medal of honor pinned to his wing.
