A dynastic order, monarchical order, or house order is an order under royal patronage. Such an order is bestowed by, as a legitimate fons honorum, a sovereign or the head of a once-sovereign ruling family.[1] These are often considered part of the cultural patrimony of the ruling family.[2] Dynastic orders were often founded or maintained to reward service to a monarch or their subsequent dynasty.[3]
A national or state order is the equivalent term for orders (e.g., of merit) conferred by sovereign states but not bestowed by ruling dynasties.
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign
But the world has changed somewhat since 1430 including that the Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece is not a reigning monarch: Archduke Karl of Austria....Nevertheless, only briefly in Der österreichische Orden vom Goldenen Vlies. Geschichte und Probleme (1971) did Annemarie Weber characterize its nature as an entity with an Austria-recognized international legal personality, its existence dependent upon its recognition in international politics.
Dynastic Orders of Knighthood are a category of Orders belonging to the heraldic patrimony of a dynasty, often held by ancient right. These differ from the early military and religious Orders and from the later Orders of Merit belonging to a particular State, having been instituted to reward personal services rendered to a dynasty or an ancient Family of princely rank