The Official Titles of Emperor Haile Selassie the First
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| Haile Selassie was NOT the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah! |
His Majesty's Official Ethiopian Titles
Lij Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael was born in Ejersa Goro, Ethiopia on July 23, 1892.¹ He was baptized in the St. Maryam Church in Komboldscha when he was forty-three days old and was given the baptismal name Haile Selassie and the horse's name Abba Tekel. At the age of eight he was ordained as an Ethiopian Orthodox deacon.² On November 1, 1905, at the age of thirteen Lij Tafari was nominally given the rank Dejazmatch of Gara Mulata by his father under the tutelage of Fitawrari Qoletch.³ On May 9, 1906, Dejazmatch Tafari was appointed titular Governor of Sellale and sometime in 1907 he was appointed titular Governor of Baso. At the age of fifteen he became the Governor of Darassa, a subprovince of Sidamo.⁴
On March 3, 1910, as Emperess Taytu was standing in for the ailing Emperor Menelik II, she proclaimed the seventeen-year-old Tafari to be the Governor of Harar and confirmed his title of Dejazmatch.⁵ He accepted, ordered his armed escort back to Harar, and wisely permitted the palace priests to rebaptize him to ally suspicions that his relation with Catholics had brought him to apostasy.⁶ After a long illness, Emperor Menelik II died in December 1913 and his grandson Lij Iyasu, Dejazmatch Tafari's childhood rival, was designated Emperor.⁷ However, on September 27, 1916, Lij Iyasu was deposed for his misrule, predilection for Islam and his intrigues with Germany against the Allies and was thus excommunicated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.⁸
Emperor Menelik's forty-year-old daughter, Zewditu (Dejazmatch Tafari's second cousin and Lij Iyasu's half aunt), was proclaimed Empress under the condition that she divorce her husband, Ras Gugsa Welle.⁹ At the same time, Dejazmatch Tafari was proclaimed Alga Worrach Balemulu Silt'an Enderasse Le'ul-Ras, i.e. Crown Prince and Heir Apparent to the Throne, Regent Plenipotentiary and Royal Duke. The two of them are officially crowned with their new titles on February 11, 1917.¹⁰ Eleven years later on October 7, 1928, His Highness Le'ul-Ras Tafari was crowned Negus ("King").¹¹ Empress Zewditu planned on granting him the throne of Shoa; however, at the last moment opposition from certain provincial rulers caused a change and his title Negus or "King" was conferred without geographical qualification or definition.¹²
After complications due to strict religious fasting, diabetes, and paratyphoid fever, Empress Zewditu died at the age of fifty-three on April 2, 1930.¹³ The following day His Majesty King Tafari was proclaimed Emperor and the official coronation ceremony was postponed for seven months in order for the government to have enough time to organize preparations for the event.¹⁴ His Majesty King Tafari was crowned Emperor ("Atse") on November 2, 1930 at the age of thirty-eight with the titles "King of Kings of Ethiopia" and "Elect of God".¹⁵ About fourteen years later, Emperor Haile Selassie restructured the Imperial Ethiopian Army, modelling it after the British system by issuing the Imperial Army Proclamation of 1944 which declared him Commander-in-Chief.¹⁶
His Majesty's Official International Titles
In Stillwater, Oklahoma on Friday, June 18th the Emperor had requested an opportunity to see "an Indian," and Acee Blue Eagle of the Pawnee Tribe, a well-known Native American artist from Okmulgee, in full headdress and buckskin clothing, presented His Majesty with a war bonnet and gave him the title "Great Buffalo High Chief". Chief Blue Eagle received a medal for eight paintings at the National Museum of Ethiopia which were presented by the Emperor.¹⁷
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England bestowed the title of "Honorary Field Marshal" on him on January 20, 1965.¹⁸ The very next day, his efforts to reunite the Oriental Orthodox Church with the Eastern Orthodox Church were rewarded at the Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in Addis Ababa on January 21, 1965, when he was given the title "Defender of the Faith".¹⁹ The last official title that he received was bestowed on him in Balntyre-Limbe, Malawi on Tuesday, August 3, 1965. He was crowned "The Great King of Malawi" by the King of the North Inkosi M`Mbelwa, the King of the Center Fumu Mwase and the King of the South Fumu Mponda.²⁰
Unofficial Religious and Poetic Praise Titles
Of the nineteen official titles that the Emperor held, he had over fifty unofficial titles attributed to him as well. These include: The Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Lord of Lords, The Light of the World, Titular Leader of the Coptic Faith, Father of Africa, The Prince of Peace, King Alpha, Great David's Greater Son, Christ in His Kingly Character, Earth's Rightful Ruler, Supreme God, Alpha and Omega, The First and The Last, The Beginning and The End, Monarch of Life, Most Living and Eternal, Ever Living Sovereign Owner of Life, Biblical Sovereign of this World, The Living God, Monarch Sovereign Pay-Master and Owner of this World, Perfect Royal Head of this World, Master Builder of Creation, Keeper of the Tree of Life, Plant of Truth, Owner of the Zodiac, Ethiopian Kingdom Owner, Creator of Creation, Head Over All Man, The Lion of Creation, Most Sacred and Everlasting God, Heaven and Earth's Creator, The Gong, House of the Holy Spirit, A Strong Pillar of Religion, Bunch of Grapes, Gospel that can Save All, Mr. Strong, Supreme Arbiter of the Ebb and Flow of the Tides, Shadow of God Upon the Earth, The Black Christ in Flesh, The King of the Universe, the Great Father of the Nation, Abbaba Janhoy, Yahweh, Allah, Krishna, Jah and God.²¹
The Lion of Judah
Ethiopia's symbolic use of the Lion for the state and monarchy has its foundational basis in the Bible (Revelation 5:5 and Genesis 49:10). The earliest Ethiopian references to the Lion of Judah are found in the Chronicle of Atse Minas, "terrible Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David" and the 15th century Senkessar manuscript in which Tewodros I is called "son of the Lion". Since at least the time of the Kebra Negast, the Ethiopian ruling dynasty claimed direct descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, i.e. the "root of David". Emperor Minas was the 185th descendant of the Solomonic dynasty and Emperor Tewodros I was the 172nd.²²
The 192nd Solomonic ruler was Adyam Seged (Emperor Iyasu I) who was explicitly referred to as the "triumphing Lion of Judah."²³ Emperor Iyasu I wrote a letter to the King of France in 1687 and prefixed his letter with a Greek cross that had the Ge'ez name Jesus ("I-YE-SU-S") written on it. He styled himself "Emperor of the World, Servant of the one single God in three persons, King of the Kings of the world". When he endowed his vassals with fiefs he sent them a headband (bandeau) of taffeta, upon which was written in golden lettering: "Jesus, Emperor of Æhiopia, of the tribe of Judah, who has always vanquished his enemies".²⁴
There are also countless English and Amharic sources that refer to Emperor Haile Selassie I as the "Lion of Judah" from documentary titles, foreign newspapers, history books, magazines and even official Imperial Ethiopian Government documents.²⁵ Yet, upon closer examination, the authenticity of this globally renowned "title" is actually dubious.
The title 'Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah' is often attached to the Emperor’s name, but is not a title of the Emperor himself. As Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate noted: "The phrase ‘Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah’ has never been the title of Ethiopian monarchs. Rather, the words ‘The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed’ (see Genesis 49:9) should be seen as the Imperial motto, in the same way that ‘Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense’ is the motto of the British ruling house. It is only our Lord Jesus Christ who is accorded this title [‘Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah’], and Ethiopian Monarchs used this motto in order to proclaim that they were Christians." (HH Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate, in correspondence with the author, June 30, 1998).²⁶
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Bob Marley wearing the Lion of Judah ring gifted to him by HIM Emperor Haile Selassie's eldest son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, who became Emperor Amha Selassie I in 1988. |
"The pronoun እኛ — "we" which in the Amharic sets the motto clearly apart from the name and titles of the Emperor, has been moved after the titles, thereby permitting 'Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah' to become part of the titles."²⁸ The error is confirmed by the full stop punctuation (።) after the term ይሁዳ "Judah".²⁹
The text is mistranslated as:
Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Haile Selassie I
Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia
We proclaim as follows:
It should actually read:
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath Prevailed.
We, Haile Selassie I
Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia, proclaim as follows:
Therefore the term "Lion of Judah" was never an official title of His Imperial Majesty but rather an English mistranslation repeatedly published in official government records. Emperor Haile Selassie is not the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah as that biblical title belongs to Christ exclusively.
Lord of Lords
The title "Lords of Lords" is arguably the most controversial title associated with the Emperor as it was never an official Amharic title that was bestowed upon any Ethiopian ruler. Although the title's attribution to Emperor Haile Selassie is historically and linguistically accurate, it must be stated that its origins derive from Rastafarian hermeneutics and that its application is a retroactive theological interpretation rather than a classical Imperial Ethiopian title used by the nobility.
The title "Le'ul-Ras" replaced the senior ranking title "Ras-Bitwoded" in 1916, and since Dejazmatch Tafari was proclaimed Le'ul-Ras (Royal Duke) on September 27, 1916 and subsequently crowned on February 11, 1917 he was, by default, the Ras of Rasses (የራሶች ራስ "yerasochi ras"), i.e. the Lord of Lords (የጌታዎች ጌታ "yegetawochi geta").³⁰ "Yegetawochi geta" is the title written in the Amharic Bible that means "Lord of Lords" in English (Revelation 19:16). Despite linguistic objections from Ethiopian scholars, multiple Amharic dictionaries from the Imperial era confirm that the term ጌታ geta ("lord") is a broad designation that can apply to a religious, political or military leader such as a Ras.³¹
Since a comprehensive analysis of all the historical records of His Majesty's title "Le'ul-Ras" was not possible until 2015, as crucial information was not yet widely available, the title "Lord of Lords" was improperly disregarded by scholars and critics as inaccurate. Even though the Rastafarians' claim concerning the title Lord of Lords was mostly unsubstantiated from 1935 until 2019, it is actually historically accurate and theologically consistent.³² It should also be mentioned that the precise title for the Emperor was "King of Kings of Ethiopia" which is nonetheless in accordance with the Rastafarian interpretation of the biblical prophecy of Psalm 87:4 that states God will be born in modern-day Ethiopia.
The Light of the World
Although written about by high ranking clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and published in foreign newspapers, the Emperor never held the title "The Light of the World" in any official capacity.³³ The original source for the Amharic title ብርሃኔ ዓለም ("Berhane Alem") comes from an Ethiopian praise poem. All the English sources for this title fail to mention that it comes from a praise poem and that it was never officially bestowed upon the Emperor, although Archbishop Yesehaq stated that it was "not a traditional Ethiopian title."
Haile Selassie as the Returned Messiah
The unofficial titles "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah" and "The Light of the World" are still used by some Rastafarians to claim that Emperor Haile Selassie is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. They cite Revelation 5:5 ("Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book") and John 8:12 ("Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world") as evidence that His Majesty fulfilled the prophecy of the scriptures pertaining to the trinitarian Messiah. However once viewed in their proper historical context, these unofficial titles can no longer be used to justify false theological doctrines and interpretations. Emperor Haile Selassie is not Jesus Christ and these two specific titles are far from being historically accurate and aren't theologically valid in the slightest.
Multiple King of Kings/Lord of Lords Objection
Many have noted that Emperor Haile Selassie wasn't the only person to hold both titles King of Kings and Lord of Lords in history. Both Tiglath-Pileser (reigned 1114–1076 BCE) and Tukulti-Ninurta (reigned 1243–1207 BCE) had both titles. But these two rulers predate the Bible by about 1,000 years so they're not relevant with regards to Rastafarian hermeneutics and Bible prophecy.
Some Popes of the Roman Catholic Church have also explicitly been referred to as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" in recent times. However, these Bishops of Rome lack the qualifying distinction "of Ethiopia" in their title which means they never actually fulfilled the prophecy of the scriptures pertaining to God. On the other hand, they have fulfilled the prophecy contained in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 which refers to them as the physical manifestation of the Antichrist, Lucifer and Satan. The person himself isn't inherently the Antichrist per se because everyone has the ability to repent (even the Pope) but the oscillating throne which he occupies makes whoever currently holds that office the Devil incarnate.
The "Merger into the Crown"
Another objection with regards to His Majesty's divinity argues that once Haile Selassie became Emperor, his previous titles, including Le'ul-Ras, no longer applied to him and were legally rescinded thereby rendering his theological appellation of "Lord of Lords" irrelevant and insignificant once he ascended the throne.
The rebuttal to this objection is a niche phenomenon loosely known as "merger into the crown" which refers to a situation where a ruler ascends to a higher title (like a king or emperor) and their previous, lesser titles (such as duke, earl, or prince) effectively become subsumed or irrelevant under the superior title. The new superseding title takes precedence, and the older titles, while still technically held, are often no longer used in practice because they are outranked.
Well-documented instances and commentaries on "merger into the crown" events are associated with rulers such as James I of England, King George III and Napoleon Bonaparte. When these sovereigns ascended to a higher throne, most of their prior titles either lost prominence or were legally absorbed into the crown's authority. These events can have distinct legal ramifications and complex cultural or historical implications which is why some cases are better documented than others.
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Newspaper article showing His Majesty retaining the title "raz of razzes" upon his ascension of the throne.³⁵ |
This fact is clearly shown in Getachew Makonnen Hassen's 1992 Amharic book which states: "Teferi Mekonen's official royal designation was Haile Selassie I, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, the Kingdom's King, also called Ras of Rases."³⁴
Therefore Emperor Haile Selassie the First was in fact the only person attested in history in the Common Era to legitimately acquire and simultaneously hold both titles "King of Kings of Ethiopia" and "Lord of Lords" which historically affirms his divinity as the physical of manifestation of God and heavenly Father of Jesus Christ in the flesh on earth.
Western Equivalents
Some critics have argued that the Western equivalents of the Emperor's titles are irrelevant or invalid. This however is in stark contradiction of the Emperor's own views, historical precedents and norms. The Western equivalents of Haile Selassie's titles are valid as they reflect historical parallels, cultural significance, and international norms, bridging Ethiopian tradition with terms Westerners can comprehend.
The Emperor was internationally recognized as a sovereign leader who regularly engaged with Western nations. He adopted Western terminology and systems into his own government (e.g., laws, military structure, medicine, titles, philosophies, etc.). Official Imperial Ethiopian government documents affirm that Western equivalents are valid as all legislation was required by the Emperor to be published in both Amharic and English.³⁶
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2. "Abba Tekel" translates to "the father of him who unites all"; Selassie, Sergew Hable. "Haile Selassie I (B)." Dictionary of African Christian Biography, Classic DACB Collection, 1995–2015, www.dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/haile-selassie2/. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025; "It should be observed that in Ethiopia a Deacon (spelt Deakon) is a young boy who waits on the Priests during the service and serves as an acolyte. Some Deakons eventually become Priests, others Debteras; not all eventually follow an ecclesiastical calling. [...] The Diakons, or deacons, whose function did not approximate to that of a deacon in Europe, but were young boys who waited on the priests and performed minor functions during church service." Pankhurst, Sylvia. Ethiopia: A Cultural History, Lalibela House, Great Britain, 1955, pp. 233, 486.
4. Ibid. pp. 27–28; Asserate, Asfa-Wossen. KING OF KINGS: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, Haus Publishing Ltd., Berlin, 2014, p. 15.
5. Sellassie I, Haile. The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I: 'My Life and Ethiopia's Progress' 1892–1937, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 1976, p. 32.
6. Asserate, Asfa-Wossen. KING OF KINGS: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, Haus Publishing Ltd., Berlin, 2014, p. 12.
10. Rey, Charles Fenrnad. The Real Abyssinia, J. B. Lippincott Company, New York, 1935, pp. 117.
11. Sellassie I, Haile. The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I: 'My Life and Ethiopia's Progress' 1892–1937, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 1976, p. 156.
12. Steffanson, Borg G. and Starret, Ronald K. Documents on Ethiopian Politics, vol. 2, Salisbury, N.C. U.S.A., Documentary Publications. p. 112.
13. Del Boca, Angelo. The Negus: The Life and Death of the Last King of Kings, Arada Books, Addis Ababa, 2015, p. 107.
15. Copley, Gregory R. Ethiopia Reaches Her Hand Unto God: Imperial Ethiopia's Unique Symbols, Structures and Rôle in the Modern World, Defense & Foreign Affairs, United Kingdom, 1998, p. 44; Bellizzi, Francesco and Wondim, Simeon et al. The Order of Coronation, Debre Zeyt Books, Italy, 2013. pp. 52–53.
16. Art. 34, Imperial Army Proclamation, 1944, Negarit Gazeta, Proclamation No. 68, year 3, no. 11, p. 141.
17. Nathaniel, Ras. 50th Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I First Visit to the United States (1954–2004), 2004, p. 65; Vestal, Theodore M. The Lion of Judah in the New World: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans' Attitudes toward Africa, Praeger, 2011, pp. 77–78.
18. "London Gazette, Issue 43567, Page 1235." The Gazette, 2 Feb. 1965, www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43567/page/1235. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025; Copley, Gregory R. Ethiopia Reaches Her Hand Unto God: Imperial Ethiopia's Unique Symbols, Structures and Rôle in the Modern World, Defense & Foreign Affairs, United Kingdom, 1998, p. 195; "Ethiopia Welcomes the Queen." The Guardian, 2 Feb. 2016, www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/02/ethiopia-queen-elizabeth-1965-royal-visit. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
About the Author
Petar Vukotic is a Rastafarian Bishop and the Secretary for the Global Alliance of Justice for the Ethiopian Cause (GAJEC), he's a member of the International Society for the Imperial Ethiopian Orders and is the world's leading authority for interpreting Imperial Ethiopian case law. He's also Moa Anbessa's Imperial Ethiopian Constitutional Law Expert.
Keep up the good work brethren. Keep shining the torch of wisdom. I give thanks to His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie the first God in the flesh to finally know the truth behind the title "Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah." Now I have proof to debunk this myth which the traditional Rastafarians use to justify their false teachings.
ReplyDeleteIn the interest of fairness I think it's important to place the inaccurate and misguided beliefs of the traditional Rastafarians into their proper context. The social historian, Lloyd DeMause, defined psychohistory as "the science of historical motivations," combining psychotherapy's insights with social science methodologies to understand the emotional origins of group behavior, past and present. Group-psychohistory specifically examines the "why" behind collective actions—why groups wage wars, adopt religions, or shift politically etc. Lloyd deMause introduced the term "psychoclass" in his psychohistorical framework to describe a group of individuals within a society who share a similar psychological profile due to experiencing a common mode of childrearing during their formative years. Traditional Rastafarians emerging in Jamaica during the early 20th century can be viewed as a psychoclass shaped by the harsh realities of colonial oppression and its lingering effects post-slavery. Colonial oppression provided the historical crisis that activated this psychoclass's emotional tone. The historical Rastas, living in a society that devalued their African heritage and imposed European norms, turned to a group-fantasy of redemption, that is, Emperor Haile Selassie as the returned messiah and black redeemer/savior, and modern Ethiopia as the biblical promised land. The Rastafarians' access to information about His Majesty was mostly filtered through western media, oral traditions, and early misreports. DeMause's framework interprets this as fertile ground for a group-fantasy. Thus, the traditional Rastas unwittingly fulfilled the biblical prophecy of the scriptures pertaining to the nation of Israel by not following His Majesty's laws and philosophies and by calling him Christ (Jeremiah 3:19–20, Matthew 5:18, Romans 9:4–6 etc.). DeMause's psychohistorical theory also posits that group-fantasies prioritize emotional coherence over empirical accuracy, yet, as we've observed, this case seems to be less about emotional coherency and more about retroactive understanding to an extent. Using deMause's psychoclass, the traditional Rastafarians emerged as a group unified by a colonial-era psychogenic mode—marked by trauma and resistance—whose group-fantasy of His Majesty's divinity arose from limited, often distorted information. This psychoclass, reacting to oppression, unconsciously fulfilled Israel-related scriptures by projecting their liberation onto the Emperor, supporting our view that the divine mind of God orchestrated history by leveraging human psychology. God's manifestation on earth culminating during the Industrial Revolution, with its technological leaps, amplifies this phsychohistrical lens as the ability to record and disseminate His Majesty's image and titles globally (via newspapers, phonographs, etc.) fueled Rastafarian belief, even if the data was skewed and impossible to verify. This suggests that psychohistory thrived in an era of information proliferation and that partial truths can ignite mass movements that echo ancient predictions. Biblical prophecies, predictions cloaked in sacred authority that foretell cosmic inevitability, were therefore fulfilled unwittingly by everyone: the traditional Rastas, the Emperor (because he was unaware of his divinity due to our naturally limited consciousness), Primus as the Messiah and even the Pope as Satan. The Rasta's beliefs, though based on debunked titles and historical inaccuracies, became a self-fulfilling prophecy, reinforcing deMause's idea that emotional history drives events beyond rational intent. This analysis should be explained when offering correction to the traditional Rastafarians whom we all owe our utmost respect and reverence to. We, no greater than they, were merely fortunate enough to be born with the internet at our disposal.
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