Nils Olav

Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands (Norwegian: [ˌnɪls ˈôːlɑv]) is a king penguin who resides in Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland.

[3] When the Norwegian King's Guard visited the Edinburgh Military Tattoo of 1961 for a drill display,[7] a lieutenant named Nils Egelien became interested in the zoo's penguin colony.

When the King's Guard returned to Edinburgh in 1972, Egelien arranged for the regiment to adopt a penguin.

[9] The knighthood was approved by King Harald V and Nils was the first penguin to receive such an honour in the Norwegian Army.

[10] During the ceremony a crowd of several hundred people watched the 130 guardsmen on parade at the zoo, and a citation from the King was read out, which described Nils as a penguin "in every way qualified to receive the honour and dignity of knighthood".

Sir Nils inspects troops of the King's Guard , of which he is colonel-in-chief , following his knighthood ceremony in 2008. Military insignia is attached to his right flipper.
The bronze statue of Nils Olav