The Order of the Frog is an illustrious order founded in 1917. The first Frog was given to a science studentcollegue by the Master of Ceremonies at the Christmas Party of The Natural Student Union in that year. The rumour tells that this first Frog was not a mark of respect, but more a signum for a number of howlers (to make a frog is a Swedish saying for making a blunder). However, the ceremony appealed to many people and already the following year the Frog was given to persons who had given the natural science and especially The Natural Student Union excellent service. Since then, it has been a tradition to honour a few chosen ones at the Christmas Party every year. The Nobel Laureates of Stockholm University and Sweden naturally got the Frog in the early days and from 1936 the Nobel Laureates, in natural science disciplines of the year, regularly have attended this festivity receiving the Insignia of the Order of the Frog. For a good many years this was the only visible sign for a Nobel Laureate to show that he or she had received the Nobel Prize. From 1976 all Nobel Laureates who attend The Lucia Ball, receive the Frog at the festivity. It is today a mark of the year when The Lucia Ball with the Night of the Frogs is taken place at Stockholm University the 13th of December. Many are the good stories of the festivities, but one distinctive feature is to keep them as internal secrets of the Order. The Nobel Laureates must be able to attend the evening with a feeling of privacy, which has been them denied earlier in the Nobel week, and journalists are for instance forbidden to attend the Lucia Ball.

What does the Order of the Frogs do? The members of the Order meet twice a year. In March we eat a traditional dinner of hot pea soup with warm Swedish punsch and in the turn of the months November/December, when the first Christmas table of the year is attended, new members of the Order are elected. The members are today about 500, including the Nobel Laureates. At the meetings the ages are widely spread from those who received the Insignia of the Order during the 30's and 40's to the newcomers of last year. The Order is also responsible for the Frog-ceremony every year at the Lucia Ball. Finally the Order have some collaboration with The Student Union and The Natural Student Union, both at Stockholm University, keeping history and tradition alive among the students.

The Insignia The Insignia of the Order is shaped as a frog. The Frog is made out of an alloy of lead with bismuth, frog-ish green and tied in a very special way. The Insignia is supposed to be weared with tail-coat for the gentlemen and evening-dress for the ladies. When a Frog-member dies, the relatives are asked to send the Insignia back to the Order or to destroy it.