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Order of the Elephant Elefantordenen | |
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![]() Badge of the Order of the Elephant. | |
Awarded by ![]() Sovereign of Denmark | |
Type | Chivalric order in one class |
Motto | Magnanimi Pretium (Latin: The prize of greatness) |
Awarded for | At the Monarch's pleasure |
Status | Currently constituted |
Sovereign | Frederik X |
Grades | Knight (Danish: Ridder, abbr.: R.E.) |
Statistics | |
First induction | 1693 ![]() |
Last induction | 2024 ![]() |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | None (Highest) |
Next (lower) | Order of the Dannebrog |
![]() Order of the Elephant ribbon |
The Order of the Elephant (Danish : Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in 1849, is now almost exclusively used to honour royalty and heads of state. [1]
A Danish religious confraternity called the Fellowship of the Mother of God, limited to about fifty members of the Danish aristocracy, was founded during the reign of Christian I during the 15th century. The badge of the confraternity showed the Virgin Mary holding her Son within a crescent moon and surrounded with the rays of the sun, and was hung from a collar of links in the form of elephants much like the present collar of the Order. After the Reformation in 1536 the confraternity died out, but a badge in the form of an elephant with his profile on its right side was still awarded by Frederick II. [2] This latter badge may have been inspired by the badge of office of the chaplain of the confraternity which is known to have been in the form of an elephant. The order was instituted in its current form on 1 December 1693 by King Christian V as having only one class consisting of only 30 noble knights in addition to the Grand Master (i.e., the king) and his sons. [3] The statutes of the order were amended in 1958 by a Royal Ordinance so that both men and women could be members of the order.
The elephant and castle design derives from the howdah, a carriage that is mounted in the back of an elephant. This type of carriage was mostly utilized in the Indian subcontinent, and the Danish knew about and thus had the ability to adopt this design since they ruled certain parts of India as part of their small colonial empire. The unfamiliar Indian howdah has been replaced in this instance by a familiar European castle, although the Indian rider has been kept on the elephant.
The Danish monarch is the head of the order. The members of the royal family are members of the order, and foreign heads of state are also inducted. In very exceptional circumstances a commoner may also be admitted. The most recent member of the order who was neither a current nor former head of state nor royal was Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, a leading industrialist and philanthropist.
The order of the Elephant has one class: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (Ridder af Elefantordenen, usually abbreviated as R.E. in letters et cetera). Knights of the order are granted a place in the 1st Class of the Danish order of precedence.
Upon the death of a Knight of the Order of the Elephant, the insignia of the order must be returned. There are a few exceptions known.
Name | Date appointed | Notes |
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![]() | 20 April 1947 | Royal family Then Princess Margrethe of Denmark |
![]() | 20 April 1947 | Royal family Then Princess Benedikte of Denmark |
![]() ![]() | 20 April 1947 | Royal family Then Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark |
![]() | 8 August 1953 | Then Crown Prince |
![]() | 21 February 1958 | Then Crown Prince |
![]() | 6 September 1960 | Then Queen consort |
![]() | 17 February 1961 | Royal family Then Prince Ingolf of Denmark |
![]() | 3 May 1963 | Then Empress consort |
![]() | 11 September 1964 | |
![]() | 12 January 1965 | Then Crown Prince |
![]() | 28 September 1965 | |
![]() | 18 June 1968 | Then Prince of Liège |
![]() | 14 January 1972 | Royal family |
![]() | 6 January 1973 | Then Princess Christina of Sweden |
![]() | 12 February 1973 | Then Crown Princess |
![]() | 30 April 1974 | Then Prince of Wales |
![]() | 29 October 1975 | Former Queen |
![]() | 17 March 1980 | Then King |
![]() ![]() | 17 March 1980 | Then Queen consort Born Princess of Greece and Denmark |
![]() | 25 February 1981 | Former President of Iceland |
![]() | 25 June 1984 | Former President of the Portuguese Republic |
![]() | 3 September 1985 | |
![]() | 20 July 1991 | |
![]() | 13 October 1992 | |
![]() | 5 July 1993 | Former President of the Republic of Poland |
![]() | 16 May 1995 | Then Queen consort |
![]() | 14 July 1995 | |
![]() | 17 November 1995 | Formerly Princess Alexandra of Denmark |
![]() | 18 November 1996 | Former President of Iceland |
![]() | 14 January 1997 | Also Prince of Denmark |
![]() | 18 March 1997 | Former President of the Republic of Latvia |
![]() | 31 January 1998 | Then Prince of Orange |
![]() | 27 April 1998 | Then Queen consort |
![]() | 2 June 1998 | Then Empress consort |
![]() | 3 May 1999 | Former President of the Federative Republic of Brazil |
![]() | 23 May 2000 | Former President of Romania |
![]() | 17 October 2000 | Former President of the Republic of Bulgaria |
![]() | 7 February 2001 | Then Crown Prince |
![]() | 3 April 2001 | Former President of the Republic of Finland |
![]() | 10 October 2001 | Former President of the Republic of Slovenia |
![]() | 28 May 2002 | Then Duke of Brabant |
![]() | 20 October 2003 | |
![]() | 20 October 2003 | |
![]() | 16 March 2004 | Former President of Romania |
![]() | 9 May 2004 | Royal family Then Mary Donaldson |
![]() | 16 November 2004 | Then Crown Prince |
![]() | 29 March 2006 | Former President of the Republic of Bulgaria |
![]() | 12 September 2007 | President of the Federative Republic of Brazil |
![]() | 18 February 2008 | Former President of the United Mexican States |
![]() | 24 May 2008 | Royal family |
![]() | 11 May 2011 | Former President of the Republic of Korea |
![]() | 23 October 2012 | Former President of the Slovak Republic |
![]() | 4 April 2013 | Former President of the Republic of Finland |
![]() | 17 May 2014 | |
![]() | 21 October 2014 | Former President of the Republic of Croatia |
![]() | 17 March 2015 | |
![]() | 13 April 2016 | Former President of the United Mexican States |
![]() | 24 January 2017 | Former President of Iceland |
![]() | 28 March 2017 | |
![]() | 28 August 2018 | President of the French Republic |
![]() | 10 November 2021 | Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany |
![]() | 21 January 2022 | |
![]() | 15 October 2023 | Royal family Then Prince Christian of Denmark |
![]() | 6 November 2023 | |
![]() | 6 November 2023 | |
![]() | 14 January 2024 | Royal family |
![]() | 14 January 2024 | Royal family |
![]() | 14 January 2024 | Royal family |
![]() | 6 May 2024 |
Previous knights have included: [9]
• Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil.
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