The Order of the Lion of Bavaria was created in 1768 by Charles IV Theodore, Elector Palatine

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria

Charles Theodore, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death...

, to celebrate the 25th year of his reign. Originally called the Order of the Palatine Lion (Orden vom Pfälzer Löwen), the Order was renamed when the Palatinate-Sulzbach

Palatinate-Sulzbach

Palatinate-Sulzbach was the name of two separate states of the Holy Roman Empire located in modern Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany.-Palatinate-Sulzbach :...

 branch of the Wittelsbach

Wittelsbach

The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...

 dynasty inherited the Duchy of Bavaria

Duchy of Bavaria

The Duchy of Bavaria was the only one of the stem duchies from the earliest days of East Francia and the Kingdom of Germany to preserve both its name and most of its territorial extent....

 in 1778. The number of knights of the order are limited to 25, including the chancellor, or head of the order. Recipients of the order were originally required to have served the elector house for 25 years. In 1808, Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria declared the order extinct and made no subsequent awards.