Rule #2: Style a garter

Becoming a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter was one of the highest honors you could receive in Tudor England. Capped at 24 knights (plus the monarch, the Prince of Wales, and a few foreign heads of state), this elite club was full of unique rituals. During the installation ceremony, a knight offered up his left leg to receive a diamond-encrusted navy-blue velvet garter with gold buckles and edges, buckled below his knee. The garter was embroidered in gold with the Latin motto HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE (Shame on him who thinks evil of it).

The rules of garterdom

Every new Knight of the Garter received a handwritten copy of the Order’s statutes. The statutes record the long history of the Order, which was founded by Edward III in 1348. This manuscript was made for Henry Manners, Earl of Rutland (1526–63), who was installed in 1559 shortly after Elizabeth became queen.

A VIP seating chart

Signed by King James in 1605, this list records the names and “stalls” (or seating assignments) of the Knights of the Garter at St. George’s Chapel for the installation by proxy of James’s brother-in-law, Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway. The Danish king was one of eight new knights elected in the first two years of James’s reign. The knights are listed by seniority, with the newest members at the bottom.

Assembling your outfit of the day

Joining the Order was an expensive undertaking. Knights needed to commission an elaborate and costly outfit to wear at their installation and at subsequent annual ceremonies on St. George’s Day (April 23): a garter, a mantle, a surcoat, a hood, a ribbon with a “George,” and a collar with a “Great George.” Georges were bejeweled depictions of St. George (the patron saint of England and of the Order) slaying the dragon.

How do I look from the back?

This hand-colored print shows front and back views of the “habit” of a Knight of the Order of the Garter. The Latin inscription at the bottom describes what the garter looks like since it was hidden by the Knight’s mantle and surcoat.

A souvenir drawing of a knight

Notice this nobleman’s Order of the Garter paraphernalia: the blue garter tied under the knee on his left leg with a hint of gold writing (the “oni s” of “Honi soit qui mal y pense”), the collar with a pendant George, and the cross of St. George on the left shoulder of his mantle. Foreign tourists collected costume drawings like this one and inserted them in their scrapbooks.