Lodge St. Olaus to the white leopard (Danish:[1] St. Olaus til den hvide leopard) is a Freemasonic Lodge within the Norwegian Order of Freemasons. It was established on June 24, 1749, on the island of Ladegaard, in the building of Bygdøy Kongsgaard in Christiania. The original name of the lodge was St. Olai, and it was named after the Norwegian king Olaf the Holy one (Olai is a Latin genitive form of Olav).[2] In 1780 the lodge changed its name to Saint Olaus to the white leopard.
In 1785, the second City Hall of Christiana (built 1733) was bought by St. Olai Lodge. The inauguration of the lodge rooms was carried out by Bernt Anker, and the lodge had its residence in the ground floor and the first floor until 1811. Today, the lodge resides inside the headquarters of the Norwegian Order of Freemasons in Nedre Vollgt. 19, Oslo, as a neighbour building of the Norwegian Storting.
The coat of arms of the Lodge carries the Latin inscription ARTIS OPE FEROCIAM EXUIT: "With the help of the Art, it (the leopard) shall get rid of its wildness (or rage)".
St. Olai Lodge was the first Masonic lodge in Norway, and the mother lodge of many lodges in the Norwegian Order of Freemasons. It was founded by Count Christian Conrad Danneskiold-Laurvig, probably with the Danish-Norwegian king Frederick V present at the initiation ceremony. The lodge is an offshoot of the Danish lodge St. Martin which existed in Copenhagen from 1743 to 1767.
- ^ Norway and Denmark formed a union when the lodge was established, and its old danish name has been preserved
- ^ St. Magnus, Medlemsblad for St. Johanneslogen St. Magnus, Loge nr. 12 under Den Norske Frimurerorden, Enogttyvende årgang. Nummer 2 - 2008, Broder Taler i St. Magnus, Einar Bøe: "Helgennavn som Logenavn"