Knighting Ceremony

Knighting Ceremony is a ceremony for an individual to be promoted by being given a Knighthood. The award is decorated by the state as a proof that the individual has shown valuable service to the Empire and as such they will be granted the rank of Knighthood. The Ceremony for Knighthood is only seen during Code Geass season 1, episode 18 when Major Suzaku Kururugi is Knighted by Princess Euphemia li Britannia inside the Clovis Memorial Museum. It is not known if every Knighting Ceremony is televised on the air, or if Suzaku was a special case: being the only Honorary Britannian to attain the rank of Knight, and as such his Knighting Ceremony was televised. It wasn't shown again until in Code Geass Akito The Exiled, a knighthood ceremony occurred in Euro Britannia upon Shin's leadership of the Knights of St Michael.

The Ceremony to ascend to Knighhood is as follows:

The Recipient comes forward and kneel in front of the Noble leading the Ceremony.

"{Rank in the army & Name of the Recipient} Wilt thou, upon this day, pledge thy fealty to Britannia, and stand as a Knight of the Crown?"

"Yes, your Highness."

"Does thy wish to abandon thy self, and be sword and shield for the sake of the greater good?"

"Yes, your Highness."

The recipient of the Knighthood unsheathe his/her sword to be presented to the Noble and the Noble will present the sword in an upright position and then he/she will use the sword to touch both shoulders of the recipient by gently using its tip.

"I, {name of the Nobility who grant the rank}, do hereby dub thee {name of the recipient}, may your courage and devotion become a shining example to the people of the Empire."

The Noble returns the sword back to recipient, the recipient sheathes the sword back to its scabbard and the noble allows the recipient to stand again and turn to the audience, it is customary to receive an applause from the audience.

There is also an informal ceremony done by Princess Cornelia. Where while still injured, she points out her middle and index fingers, to resemble the sword, and says, "I dub thee Knight of Honor of Britannia. You are now a Knight in both name and station, now go Suzaku Kururugi."

Clearly as seen in this action by Princess Cornelia that the above Knighting Ceremony made Suzaku a Knight in name only. It wasn't until Cornelia's informal ceremony that Suzaku was officially given the noble title of Knight, further suggesting that the televised knighting ceremony was more of a show than actually granting Suzaku any power or title of a knight, he was only a knight for Euphemia and did not hold actual knight status in the Britannian Empire.