Nils Olav. Scotland's knighted penguin.

Nils Olav. Scotland's knighted penguin.

Did you know that the only knighted penguin in the world resides at Edinburgh Zoo? Did you even think there could be such a thing as a knighted penguin? Well, Sir Nils Olav is the living proof of it. He is a king penguin that is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King's Guard. His name 'Nils Olav' and associated ranks have passed through three king penguins since 1972 – the current holder being Nils Olav III. The second Nils Olav was knighted in 2008.

It all started when a lieutenant from the Norwegian King's Guard named Nils Egelien visited the Edinburgh for a drill display, he became interested in the city zoo's penguin colony. He is named after this lieutenant, who organised the original adoption back in 1972, and King Olav V of Norway. Following his adoption, Nils was given the role of mascot for the Norwegian Guard and has quickly moved up the ranks.

Nils Olav I was initially given the rank of lance corporal in the regiment. He has been promoted each time the King's Guard has returned to the zoo, as seen below:

• 1982 - Corporal
• 1987 - Sergeant
• 1993 - Regimental Sergeant Major
• 2001 - Honourable Regimental Sergeant Major
• 2005 - Colonel-in-Chief
• 2008 - Knighthood
• 2016 - BrigadieR

He now outranks Nils Egelien. Here’s a video of him being promoted to Brigadier in 2016.

Brig David Allfrey, producer and chief executive of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, said: "This is just a simply fantastic example of the great relations between our two countries, and it couldn't be a more charming tradition.

"At the Tattoo we of course have many inspecting officers but this is by far my favourite. Congratulations, Brigadier Olav."

OTHER FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

• Sir Nils resides with the rest of his colony in Penguins Rock, which has the largest outdoor penguin pool in Europe.
• In 2005, Edinburgh Zoo was presented with a 4-foot tall bronze statue of Sir Nils.
• Edinburgh Zoo has a long history with penguins and Norway. The Norwegian family of Christian Salvesen presented the Zoo with its first-ever king penguin in 1913.