Nils Olav the Penguin
In 1961 the Norwegian King’s Guard visited the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. While there a lieutenant by the name of Nils Egelien visited the Edinburgh Zoo and became fascinated with the penguin colony there. When the Guards returned in 1972 he arranged for his unit to adopt one of the penguins. The penguin was then given the name Nils Olav after Nils Egelien and King Olav V of Norway.
The penguin was given the rank of Lance Corporal and became the official mascot of the guard. Then every time that the guards returned to Edinburgh the penguin was given another promotion. In 1982, he was made a corporal and then a sergeant in 1987. Nils Olav died soon after that promotion and another penguin was chosen to be the mascot. Nils Olav II was promoted to regimental sergeant major in 1993 and then Colonel-in-Chief in 2005. King Harald V himself got into the act when the penguin was granted a knighthood on August 15th, 2008. Nils was the first penguin to receive any such honor in the Norwegian Army. Several hundred joined the 130 guardsmen as a citation from the King declared that the penguin was “in every way qualified to receive the honor and dignity of knighthood.” Following his knighthood, the King’s Guard stood at attention for inspection by their Colonel-in-Chief.
That same year a bronze statue of Nils Olav was given to the Edinburgh Zoo and another was placed at the King’s Guard compound in Huseby, Oslo. Today Nils Olav III has taken over the role of mascot and on August 22nd, 2016 he was promoted to Brigadier in a ceremony attended by 50 guards. The penguin continues to be the mascot of the King’s Guard despite having never served in the military or ever left the zoo.