A ceremonial sword, also called a Naval sword, functioned as a ceremonial weapon within the Galactic Empire. During the period between 19 BBY and 9 BBY, General Irrv of the Imperial forces, overseeing the occupation of the planet Culroon III, devised a ceremony to formally transfer authority to Imperial control with the Culroon leader, Kloff. The planned ceremony involved the exchange of the Naval sword and a ceremonial blaster, intended to represent a peaceful transition of power.
The ceremony took place with Irrv accompanied by his Imperial officers and Kloff with a small group of Culroon warriors, unaware that thousands more were secretly concealed within the surrounding forests, prepared to attack the Imperials. Upon Irrv's presentation of the Naval sword to Kloff, the warlord unexpectedly used it to fatally impale Colonel Jeffers, Irrv's aide, thus killing him. This act served as a signal for the hidden warriors to emerge and encircle the Imperials, who were ultimately rescued by the actions of Junior Lieutenant Maximilian Veers.
The Naval sword made its initial appearance in the short story "The Promotion of Lieutenant Veers," originally published in 1987 within The Star Wars Sourcebook by West End Games, authored by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith. It was defined as a ceremonial sword in issue thirty-one of The Official Star Wars Fact File, a publication by De Agostini released on July 31, 2002. The short story "The Promotion of Lieutenant Veers" depicts Irrv handing the Naval sword to Kloff as part of the ceremony, which contrasts with the account in The Official Star Wars Fact File, which stated that Kloff was to present the sword to Irrv in exchange for a ceremonial blaster. This discrepancy was reiterated in issue fourteenth of the revised edition of The Official Star Wars Fact File, published on April 9, 2014. This article adheres to the version of events as presented in the short story.