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The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system
British honours system

The United Kingdom honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom. The system consists of three types of award: honours, decorations and medals:...
. It is the rank of a man who has been knight
Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
ed by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry
Chivalric order

Chivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time....
. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, the rank existed during the reign of King Henry III
Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
 (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of the various orders.






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Knights Bachelor Insignia
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system
British honours system

The United Kingdom honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom. The system consists of three types of award: honours, decorations and medals:...
. It is the rank of a man who has been knight
Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
ed by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry
Chivalric order

Chivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time....
. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, the rank existed during the reign of King Henry III
Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
 (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of the various orders. There is no female counterpart; women deserving an honour of this rank are appointed Dame Commanders
Dame (title)

Dame is the female equivalent of address to Sir for a United Kingdom knighthood. In the UK honours system, this can be the title of a woman who has been made a Dame Commander or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Victorian Order, or Order of the British Empire....
 of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
 (DBE) instead.

Criteria

It is generally awarded for public service; amongst its recipients are all male judges of the High Court of England and Wales. It is possible to be a junior member of an order of knighthood and a Knight Bachelor without being a knight of that order; this situation has become rather common, especially among those recognised for achievements in entertainment. For instance, Sir George Martin
George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom record producer, arrangement and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"?a title that he owes to his work as producer or co-producer of all of The Beatles' original records as well as playing piano on some of The Beatles tracks?and is considered one o...
 and Sir Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, Order of the British Empire, is a Scotland association football coach and former player, currently managing Manchester United F.C., where he has been in charge since 1986....
 are Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
), and Sir Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney Member of the Order of the British Empire is a multiple Grammy Award-winning England singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer, Painting, and Animal rights....
 is a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
). None of them would by virtue of those honours be entitled to the honorific "Sir." However, all are also Knights Bachelor and thus each may preface his name with that title.

Honorifics and post-nominals

Like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled "Sir
Sir

Sir is an honorific used as a title and in several other modern contexts.It was once used as a courtesy title among equals, but in common usage it is now usually reserved for one of superior Command hierarchy or Social status, such as an educator or commanding officer, or in age ; as a form of address from a merchant to a customer; in for...
". Since they are not knights of any order of chivalry
Chivalric order

Chivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time....
, there is no post-nominal associated with the award. However, when the style "Sir" is awkward or incomplete due to a subsequent appointment, recipients may sometimes use the word "Knight" or "Kt" (note the lowercase 't', which distinguishes it from "KT", the post-nominals of a Knight of the Thistle) after their name in formal documents to signify that they have the additional honour. This style is often adopted by Knights Bachelor who are also peers
Peers

Peers is a surname, and may refer to:*Adam Peers a student at Liverpool John Moores University.* Donald Peers* Edgar Allison Peers, an English academician...
, baronet
Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy....
s or knights of the various statutory orders (e.g., the Baronet Sir William Boulton
Sir William Boulton, 1st Baronet

Sir William Whytehead Boulton, 1st Baronet Deputy Lieutenant was a United Kingdom soldier and Conservative Party politician.The son of William Whytehead Boulton and Mary Hudleston Gibson, he served in the Royal Horse Guards and in Essex Regiment, reaching the rank of Major....
, Bt, Kt).

Insignia

Until 1926 Knights Bachelor had no insignia which they could wear, but in that year King George V
George V of the United Kingdom

George V was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha....
 issued a Warrant authorising the wearing of a badge on all appropriate occasions. The Knights Bachelor badge may be worn on all appropriate occasions upon the left side of the coat or outer garment of those upon whom the degree of Knight Bachelor has been conferred. Measuring 2? inches in length and 1? inches in width, it is described in heraldic
Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning Coat of arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms....
 terms as follows:

Upon an oval medallion of vermilion
Vermilion

Vermilion, sometimes spelled vermillion, when found naturally occurring, is an opaque Orange ish red pigment, used since antiquity, originally derived from the powdered mineral cinnabar....
, enclosed by a scroll
Scroll

A Scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
 a cross-hilted sword belted and sheathed, pommel
Pommel

Pommel may refer to:* Pommel , the slightly raised area at the front of a saddle* Hilt#Pommel, the counterweight at the end of the hilt of a European sword...
 upwards, between two spurs
Spurs

*Spurs are tools worn on the heel of a boot, used when riding horses.In a sporting context, Spurs refers to either;*The San Antonio Spurs, a National Basketball Association team based in San Antonio, Texas, in the United States...
, rowels upwards, the whole set about with the sword belt, all gilt.


In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
 issued a further warrant authorising the wearing on appropriate occasions of a neck badge, slightly smaller in size, and in miniature. In 1988 a new certificate of authentication, a knight's only personal documentation, was designed by the College of Arms
College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
.

Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor

The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor
Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor

The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor was formed in 1908 and received royal recognition in 1912. Its patron is Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
 was founded for the maintenance and consolidation of the Dignity of Knights Bachelor in 1908, and obtained official recognition from the Sovereign in 1912. The Society keeps records of all Knights Bachelor, in their interest.

See also

  • Bachelor
    Bachelor

    A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been marriage .The term is sometimes restricted to men who do not have and are not actively seeking a spouse or other personal partner....
  • Knight banneret
    Knight banneret

    A Knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a knight who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner and were eligible to bear supporters in English heraldry....
  • Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
    Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood

    The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood is a small office within the Royal Household of the Monarch of the United Kingdom responsible for the administration of Orders of Chivalry and some aspects of honours in general....