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Dynastic Orders of Knighthood are a category of order belonging to the heraldic patrimony of a dynasty, often held by ancient right. They differ from Military orders and Religious orders and from Orders of Merit belonging to a particular State, having been instituted to reward personal services rendered to a sovereign, dynasty, or an ancient Family of princely rank. An example of this difference can be shown with Great Britain's Royal Victorian Order, which is in the personal gift of the Sovereign (and thus is a "dynastic" order), in contrast to the Order of the British Empire, which is bestowed by the Sovereign on the basis of recommendations by the Prime Minister (and thus is a "national" order).

Dynastic Orders are the exclusive property of a Sovereign, and they remain such even if he/she goes into exile, and are thus transmissible to his legitimate successor and Head of the Family. Generally, even if a Sovereign abdicates of his/her own free will, unless he/she does so explicitly, he/she does not renounce the Grand Mastership of those Dynastic Orders belonging to his/her family. If the sovereign should renounce his/her status as fons honorum, this cannot involve any of his/her heirs that hold the right of inheritance, unless the renunciation took place prior to the sovereign's marriage, and thus the birth of any heirs.

A sovereign (or Head of a Royal House) in exile, and his/her legitimate successor, continue to enjoy the ius collationis, or "the right to confer honours," and therefore may bestow honours in full legitimacy. No authority can deprive them of the right to confer honours, since this prerogative belongs to them as a lawful personal property iure sanguinis (by right of blood). This does not, of course, mean that the a new political authority is not entitled to forbid the public use of the insignia and titles of such orders according to its own rules in the matter of decorations. In modern Italy, the dynastic orders of the House of Savoy are strictly prohibited from being officially worn.

Sovereigns or heads of royal houses may confer and wear their dynastic orders provided the Order has not become extinct. If an order is extinct, and it is not reintroduced as a decoration of a state, it remains extinct. They cannot, moreover, found new Dynastic Orders.

There are many dynastic orders of knighthood, which exist primarily in Europe. Today, dynastic orders include those still bestowed by a reigning monarch, those bestowed by a head of a royal house in exile, and those that have become extinct.

• The Royal Victorian Order (Great Britain)
• The Royal Victorian Chain (Great Britain)
• The Noble Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
• The Royal Order of Maria Louise (Spain)
• The House Order of Orange (The Netherlands)

• The Noble Order of the Golden Fleece (Habsburg-Lorraine)
• The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (Savoy)
• The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Savoy)
• The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George (Two Sicilies)
• The Royal & Illustrious Order of St. Januarius (Two Sicilies)
• The Order of St. George (Bavaria-Wittelsbach)
• The Order of St. Hubert (Bavaria-Wittelsbach)
• The Order of the Dames of the Starry Cross (Habsburg-Lorraine)
• The Order of St. Joseph
• The Order of St. Stephen