Royal Danish Embassy – Washington, D.C.

1 December 1693 is the exact date marking the beginning of the Danish system of orders of chivalry in exitence today. It was the date the Danish King Christian V signed the statutes for the royal orders of chivalry.

The new system of orders of chivalry was a means to create a new structure of social rank in Denmark. At the introduction of absolutism in 1660, the old nobility had been stripped of its privileges, but the nobility was still a factor of political and economic importance. To break its power, the King sought to create a new nobility of burgesses and foreigners who could be useful to the King.

The Order of the Elephant

One of the two orders of chivalry in the new system, the Order of the Elephant, was in fact not new at all. In 1693, it was already more than two hundred years old. It dated from the 1470s, when King Christian I had the Order confirmed by the Pope. The Order of the Elephant was to be the Danish version of the two most famous European distinctions, the Garter (c. 1350) and the Golden Fleece (1430).

The probable reason why it was the exotic elephant which came to symbolize the oldest and most distinguished of the orders was that the battle elephant was used as a symbol of the champion of Christianity, roused by the sight of Christ’s blood. Also the elephant was the symbol of chastity and purity.

The Order of the Elephant has one class – one may become a Knight of the Elephant, no more no less. One is however not anyone, and among the Danes at the moment only members of the royal family can decorate themselves with the elephant made in white- enamelled gold.

Today, the Order of the Elephant is awarded according to the statutes worked out under Christian V in 1693. The statutes were amended in 1958 by a Royal Ordinance, so that both men and women have access to the Order.

The monarch heads the Order which is bestowed upon members of the Danish royal family and upon foreign heads of state. Among Knights of the Elephant of this century, who neither were royal nor heads of state (at the time of the conferment), were General Dwight David Eisenhower (1945), Field Marshall Sir Bernard Law Montgomery (1945) and Sir Winston Churchill (1950). Of Danish Knights of the Elephant who were commoners there have been four in the past century: the philologist, professor Vilhelm Thomsen (1912), the founder of the East Asiatic Company, titular councillor of state, Hans Niels Andersen (1919), and the nuclear physicist, professor Niels Bohr (1947) and

shipping magnate Mærsk McKinney Møller (2000).

The Order of the Elephant consists of four parts:

The badge: The badge is the elephant made of white-enamelled gold. It is about 2 inches high. On its back the elephant is bearing a watch tower, and in front of the tower a Moor is sitting holding a golden spear. On the right side of the elephant there is a cross of diamonds and on the left, the elephant bears the monogram of the bestowing monarch.

The collar: The collar of the Order is of gold. It consists of alternating elephants and towers. On the cover of the elephants there is a D which stands for Dacia, mediaeval Latin for Denmark.

The star: The star of the Order is an eight-pointed silver star. At its center there is a red medallion with a cross, surrounded by a laurel wreath in silver. It is worn on the left side of the chest.

The sash: The sash of the Order is of light-blue silk moiré and 10 cm wide. It is placed on the left shoulder with the elephant resting against the right hip. The collar is not worn when the sash is used.

Upon the death of a Knight of the Elephant, the insignia of the Order must be returned.

The Order of the Dannebrog

The Order of the Dannebrog was instituted in 1671. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the King, and his sons. In 1808, the Order was reformed and it was divided into four classes: the Grand Commander class and below that the three regular classes of the Order: Grand Cross (first Order class), Commander 1st Degree and Commander (second Order class), and Knight 1st Degree and Knight (third Order class). The Cross of Honour is attached to the Order of the Dannebrog.

Today, the Order of Dannebrog is a means of rewarding the faithful servants of the modern welfare state for meritorious civil or military service, for a particular contribution to the arts, sciences or business life or for those working for Danish interests.

The monarch heads the Order.

The badge of the Order of the Dannebrog is a white and red-enamelled Dannebrog cross, for the Knights in silver and for everyone else in gold. The cross hangs in the crowned monogram of the bestowing monarch. On its front, the cross bears the crowned monogram of Christian V as well as the motto of the Order: Gud og Kongen (God and the King). On the reverse, the crowned monograms of Valdemar II Sejr, Christian V and Frederik VI, as well as the years 1219, 1671 and 1808 appear. In each of the four angles of the cross a royal crown has been placed.

The Grand Commander class has been reserved to persons of princely origin, and not more than seven Orders are bestowed. The Grand Commanders wear the badge on a necklet (gentlemen) or on a bow (ladies). An eight-pointed silver star is worn on the left side of the chest.

The insignia of the Grand Cross class consist of the badge, the star of the Order (the same as for Grand Commanders), the collar and the sash. The collar of the Order is of gold and the sash is white with a red border. The sash is draped from the right shoulder to the left hip.

Commanders 1st Degree and Commanders wear the badge on the necklet (gentlemen) or on a bow (ladies). Commanders 1st Degree also wear a breast cross.

Knights 1st Degree and Knights wear their cross on a chest ribbon (gentlemen) or on a bow (ladies). Knights 1st Degree have a rosette on the chest ribbon or bow.

The Cross of Honour of the Dannebrog is awarded to Danes on whom the Order of the Dannebrog has already been bestowed. It is also worn by the individual members of the royal family.  Its badge is all in silver and it is worn on a ribbon (gentlemen) or bow (ladies) with rosette.

The insignia of the Order must be returned upon the death of the holder.

Bestowal

“It is acquired through distinguished service and actions; such as: excellent proof of courage, insight and manliness for the warrior, or faith, insight and zeal for the civil servant, through devotion to the King, the country and fellow citizens; through successful accomplishment of difficult ventures where no pains were spared, to the benefit of the State; through progress made in science and in the arts to the glory of the nation; through ingenious inventions whereby new sources of wealth are opened to the State and through generally useful, new and beneficial plants in the nation’s agriculture, industry and trade.

Convinced that the upright person, next to the stimuli of religion and morality, considers the Honour as the purest and noblest mainspring of everything Good, and that he, next to the gratifying feeling of having been useful, considers the esteem of his Sovereign and of his fellow citizens the most dignified reward, We have found that Our paternal purposes can best be achieved by means of an external symbol of recognized civic worth.”

Royal letters patent concerning the extension of the
Order of the Dannebrog of 28 June 1808