The Order of the Zähringer Lion was instituted on 26 December 1812 by Karl, Grand Duke of Baden

Karl, Grand Duke of Baden

Charles, Grand Duke of Baden became ruler of Baden on June 11, 1811 and ruled until his death. He was born in Karlsruhe....

, in memory of the Dukes of Zähringen from whom he was descended.

Classes

It had five classes.

• Grand Cross
• Commander, 1st Class
• Commander, 2nd Class
• Knight, 1st Class
• Knight, 2nd Class

Insignia

The order's insignia consists of a green enameled cross with 4 arms of equal length, whose angles are filled out with golden clasps. The gold-edged medallion shows the tribal symbol of the Zähringers in coloured enamel. Around the circle is the order's motto, FÜR EHRE UND WAHRHEIT (FOR HONOUR AND TRUTH). On the back, the Zähringer lion is portrayed on a red background. The order's band is green with orange-yellow stripes along the edges.

For special awards, the order was granted with oak leaves

Oak leaf cluster

An oak leaf cluster is a common device which is placed on U.S. Army and Air Force awards and decorations to denote those who have received more than one bestowal of a particular decoration. The number of oak leaf clusters typically indicates the number of subsequent awards of the decoration...

 and from 1866 could also be awarded with crossed swords for military services. The oak leaves originally carried an "L" cipher, which went out of use in 1866. Moreover, in exceptional cases, the grand cross award could also be covered in diamonds - only 8 such awards occurred:

• 1815 Reinhard von Berstett, Minister in Baden
  Grand Duchy of Baden
  The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
  
  
• 1856 Graf von Keller, Oberhofmarschall and Hausmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia
  Kingdom of Prussia
  The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
  
  
• 1856 Heinrich von Pückler, Hofmarschall
  Hofmarschall
  The Hofmarschall was the administrative official in charge of a princely German court, supervising all its economic affairs....
  
   of the Kingdom of Prussia
• 1857 Graf von Severine, diplomat of Imperial Russia
• 1861 Williamoff, General à la Suite of Imperial Russia
• 1863 Graf Stroganoff, Hofstallmeister of Imperial Russia
• 1875 August von Werder, Prussian General
• 1889 Moritz von Cohn
  Moritz von Cohn
  Baron Moritz von Cohn was a German-Jewish private banker.As the proprietor of a private bank in Dessau, he advanced to be court-banker to the dukes of Anhalt and also over several decades administered the private fortune of the Prussian crown prince and later emperor Wilhelm I...
  
  , banker

Sources

• Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon. Leipzig 1908
• Badens Orden, Henning Volle, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976
• Order of the Zähringer Lion on Stadtwiki Karlsruhe
  Stadtwiki Karlsruhe
  The Stadtwiki Karlsruhe is a City wiki of the German town Karlsruhe and its surroundings, which is the largest in the world.- History :It was founded by the former pupil Hauke Löffler on the 22nd of Juli 2004...