Organizations

The Order of the Garter

Also Known As The Most Noble Order of the Garter

Citation Formats

General Reference

History Atlas. "The Order of the Garter." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/organizations/order-of-the-garter.

APA Style

History Atlas. (n.d.). The Order of the Garter. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/organizations/order-of-the-garter

BibTeX

@misc{historyatlas-the-order-of-the-garter,
  author = {History Atlas},
  title = {The Order of the Garter},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/organizations/order-of-the-garter},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348, is England's and Britain's highest order of chivalry. Because the order's earliest records were destroyed by fire, historians cannot be certain of its original purpose or the meaning of its badge and motto; one theory holds Edward meant to revive the Round Table of Arthurian legend. Tradition explains the order's founding through an incident in which a lady's blue garter fell to the floor while dancing with the king, who retrieved it and bound it to his own leg, rebuking onlookers with the words that remain the order's motto, Honi soit qui mal y pense, shame to him who thinks evil of it; the identity of the lady is itself uncertain, with Joan of Kent, Katharine Grandison, Countess of Salisbury, and, by one Tudor historian's account, Edward's own queen Philippa of Hainault all proposed. Edward inaugurated the order with a great feast and tournament; its original membership was the king and the Prince of Wales, each with twelve companion knights, mirroring a tournament's two sides. Its home is St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, its feast day 23 April, St George's Day, and it remains in active use by the British monarchy today.

Facts

Organization Type

Order of chivalry 1

Founded

1348 1

Headquarters

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England 1

Industry

British chivalric order of merit and honours system 2

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Edward III (Britannica)

This source names The Order of the Garter directly: "course of the Hundred Years' War, the Order of the Garter, and the reign's final, harder years."

Source Edward III (Britannica)

Edward III of England

Founded the order in 1348, England's highest order of chivalry, and remained its sovereign for the rest of his reign.

Source The Most Noble Order of the Garter (Britannica)

The Most Noble Order of the Garter (Britannica)

This source names The Order of the Garter directly: "Britannica's topic entry on the Order of the Garter: its 1348 founding by Edward III, the uncertain origin of its emblem and motto, and its history and structure since."

Source The Most Noble Order of the Garter (Britannica)