Svensk orden "Grand Order of the Amaranth"

Ball-tipped gilt metal Maltese cross with ball-tipped finials between the arms with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a central medallion bearing the monogram ‘AV’ and circumscribed ‘MEMORIA DULCIS (Sweet memory); the reverse dated D. 6 JANUARII 1653. D.24 JULII 1760; on original ribbon in the national colours of Sweden. The Order was founded by Queen Kristina in 1653 and is still recognised by the Swedish court as a ‘social order’. It has no connection with Masonic ‘orders’ of the same name which sprang up in the United States of America.