A soliton hierarchy associated with so(3,R)

•Use the real Lie algebra so(3,R) to generate a soliton hierarchy.•Generate a bi-Hamiltonian structure by the trace identity.•Obtain a hereditary recursion operator.

We generate a hierarchy of soliton equations from zero curvature equations associated with the real Lie algebra so(3,R) and show that each equation in the resulting hierarchy has a bi-Hamiltonian structure and thus integrable in the Liouville sense.