GARTER, THE MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE

English order of knighthood founded by King Edward III in 1348, considered to be the highest British civil and military honour obtainable. Because the earliest records of the order were destroyed by fire, it is difficult for historians to reconstruct its original purposes, the significance of its emblem, and the origin of the order's motto. One theory is that Edward III wished to revive the Round Table of Arthurian legend, thereby creating a fraternity of knights, and that the garter perhaps symbolized the homage paid by knights to ladies. According to the most picturesque legend, it was established to commemorate an incident in which Edward was dancing with Joan of Kent, Countess of Salisbury, when one of her blue garters dropped to the floor. As bystanders snickered, Edward gallantly picked up the garter and put it on his own leg, admonishing the courtiers in French with the phrase that remains as the order's motto Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shame to him who thinks evil of it, or, more popularly, Evil to him who evil thinks). The king inaugurated the order with a great feast and a memorable joust. As one of the most distinguished and exclusive orders of knighthood, the order's roster has contained many illustrious names. Nonetheless, members have fallen from honour and forfeited their rank. Thirty-six knights of the Garter have been beheaded, with Henry VIII alone accounting for six. During World War II, the crests and swords of the extra knights Emperor Hirohito of Japan and King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy were removed from the order's chapel. The conferment of the honour has even been refused. In 1945, when his party was voted out of office, Winston Churchill refused the order when it was first offered to him, explaining in private, I can hardly accept the Order of the Garter from the king after the people have given me the Order of the Boot. Churchill relented, however, and was inducted into the order in 1953. The original medieval membership consisted of the British sovereign and the prince of Wales, each with 12 companions, as if at a tournament. In 1805 the number of knights companions was expanded to 25, the number it maintains today. Membership was expanded in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to include supernumeraries such as members of the royal family (known as royal knights companions), lineal descendants of George I and George II, and foreigners (known as extra knights). The British sovereign and prince of Wales are always members of the order. Originally, existing knights elected new knights, but now appointment to the order is solely at the discretion of the British monarch. Women have been made ladies of the order, but they are not ranked among the 25 knights companions. Conferment of the order entails adoption into knighthood and the right to use the title Sir. Holders of the order can add K.G. (Knight of the Garter) after their names. The order has five officers: prelate (who is always the bishop of Winchester), chancellor, registrar (dean of Windsor since Charles I's reign), Garter king of arms, and gentlemen usher of the Black Rod. As St. George is the patron saint of the order, April 23 (St. George's Day) is its feast day. The chapel of the order is St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Each knight has a stall assigned to him in this chapel; placed in it are his banner, helmet, and stallplate bearing his coat of arms. The banner and helmet are taken down after the death of a knight, but the stallplate remains permanently fixed in the stall of the chapel (the oldest plate of arms is from c. 1394). As a result of this arrangement, the stalls of St. George's Chapel provide one of the most excellent examples known of the history of heraldic design. The insignia comprise the garter with the motto emblazoned on it, the star with St. George's cross, and a collar with a badge representing St. George and the dragon. All insignia must be returned on the death of the holder.