When the Norwegian King's Guard visited the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland in 1972, a lieutenant named Nils Egelien loved the penguin exhibit so much that he decided he wanted the regiment to "adopt" a penguin. They chose a king penguin and named him Nils Olav, after Egelien and Norway's King Olav V. The penguin was made a lance corporal in the King's Guard.

Since then, "Nils Olav" (so far, the name has been passed down to two more king penguins at the zoo) has been given a promotion every time the King's Guard returns to the Edinburgh Zoo. He is now a brigadier and was even knighted by King Harald V in 2008. So that's SIR Nils Olav, Brigadier of the Norwegian Guard, to you. The king penguin even has a bronze statue in the zoo!