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WonderHistory fact

A king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, Sir Nils Olav III, is a knight and an honorary major general of the Norwegian King's Guard.

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The King's Guard is the Norwegian Army battalion that guards the royal family. When it performed at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a festival of military music, in 1961, one of its officers, Nils Egelien, took a liking to the zoo's penguins, and in 1972 the Guard adopted one as its mascot, naming it Nils Olav. The name and rank have since passed from one penguin to the next, with a promotion on many of the Guard's visits: the mascot was knighted in 2008 with the approval of King Harald V, and the current holder, Nils Olav III, was made a major general in August 2023. At each ceremony soldiers parade before him at the zoo, where a bronze statue of him also stands.

Türkçe oku
Edinburgh Hayvanat Bahçesi'nde yaşayan kral pengueni Sir Nils Olav III, şövalye unvanı taşıyor ve Norveç Kraliyet Muhafızları'nda onursal tümgeneral rütbesine sahip.

Kraliyet Muhafızları, Norveç ordusunda kraliyet ailesini korumakla görevli taburdur. Tabur 1961'de askerî bando ve gösteri festivali Edinburgh Military Tattoo'ya katıldığında, subaylarından Nils Egelien hayvanat bahçesindeki penguenlere ısındı. Muhafızlar 1972'de bir penguenini maskot olarak sahiplendi ve ona Nils Olav adını verdi. O günden bu yana ad ve rütbe bir penguenden ötekine geçiyor; muhafızlar birçok ziyaretlerinde maskotlarını terfi ettiriyor. Maskot 2008'de Kral V. Harald'ın onayıyla şövalye ilan edildi; bugünkü sahibi Nils Olav III ise Ağustos 2023'te tümgeneralliğe yükseltildi. Her törende askerler hayvanat bahçesinde onun önünden geçit yapar; bahçede bir de bronz heykeli bulunur.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Nils Olav
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