Orde van de Gouden Ark

The Order of the Golden Ark is an international order of chivalry that was founded on 10 July 1971 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The order focuses on nature conservation and "is intended to distinguish those who have acquired special merits for the preservation of flora and fauna on earth".

The degrees of the order are commander, officer and knight.

The jewel of the order is a five-armed blue enamelled gold cross that is placed on a white enamelled gold cross that is twice as wide. The arms of both crosses are of equal length. The five arms widen from the middle and end in two points. The cross is placed on a gold laurel wreath. A medallion with a gold ring is placed on the jewel with an image of a ship on a blue enamelled background. This ship is supposed to represent the mythical ark of Noah. The representation does not do justice to the description in Genesis but looks more like a cog ship. The back is flat. A green enamelled gold laurel wreath has been added as a heightening.

The ribbon of the order is orange with narrow blue and green stripes on either side.

When the prince pinned the decorations of Officer in the Order of the Golden Ark on Lenie 't Hart in 1994, he said: "That's all I have. Now it's gone...", which suggests that the prince had founded the order for his life and that the order will henceforth lead a dormant existence. In 2001, the prince pinned the decorations of Officer or Knight in the Order of the Golden Ark on fourteen people.

The order is not a royal distinction and also not a house order of the Dutch royal house or the Orange-Nassau family. According to the order law as it is used in the 20th century, the prince of the Netherlands could not have founded an order of knighthood either. The prince was not a fons honorum but had so much prestige that a flourishing order of knighthood came into being.