Order of the Elephant

Order of the Elephant
Coat of arms of Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway surrounded by the collars of the Order of the Elephant and the Order of the Dannebrog
Badge of the Order of the Elephant.

The Order of the Elephant (Danish: Elefantordenen) is the highest order of Denmark. 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 bestowed on royalty and heads of state.[1]

Contents

History

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 an elephant carrying a howdah, the familiar castle replacing the unfamiliar howdah, and finds use elsewhere in European iconography, as discussed at howdah.

Use

The Danish monarch is the head of the order. The order is worn by members of the royal family, and may also be bestowed on foreign heads of state. In very exceptional circumstances the order may also be bestowed on a commoner. The only living holder of the order who is neither a current or former head of state nor royal is 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. af E. in letters et cetera). Knights of the order are granted a place in the 1st Class of the Danish order of precedence as well as the right to use the honorific style His/Her Excellency (HE).

Insignia

Collar of the Order of the Elephant.
Order of the Elephant ribbon.
  • 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 Dania, mediaeval Latin for Denmark. According to the statutes of the order, the collar can only be worn on New Years Day (during the Danish monarch's New Years Cour) and on the Monarch's birthday.
  • The badge of the order is an elephant made of white-enamelled gold with blue housings. It is about 5 cm high. On its back the elephant is bearing a watch tower of pink enameled masonry encircled by a row of small table cut diamonds at the bottom with another row just below the crenellation at the top. In front of the tower and behind the elephant’s head (which has a diamond set in its forehead and smaller diamonds for its eyes) a colorfully attired and turbaned Moor mahout is sitting, holding a golden rod; on the right side of the elephant there is a cross of five large table cut diamonds and on the left side the elephant bears the crowned monogram of the monarch reigning when it was made. At the top of the tower is a large enameled gold ring from which the badge can be hung from the collar or tied to the sash of the Order. There are about 72 elephants at the chancery of the Order or in circulation. It is estimated that together with an unknown number of elephants in museums around the world, the total number of the elephants is about a hundred.[4]
  • The star of the order is an eight-pointed silver star with smooth rays. At its center there is a red enameled disc with a cross,[5] surrounded by a laurel wreath in silver. It is worn on the left side of the chest.
  • 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.

Women's sash is about 6–7 cm wide.

  • The order originally had a distinctive habit worn by the knights on very solemn occasions[6] consisting of a white doublet, white breeches, white stockings and white shoes, over which was worn a red mantle with a white lining and with the star of the order embroidered in silver on left side. Over this red mantle was worn a short white shoulder cape with a standing collar, embroidered with scattering of numerous gold flames, upon which was worn the collar of the order (the habit was alway worn with the collar of the order, never its ribbon). The star othThe habit also had a black hat with a plume of white and red ostrich feathers. This habit was almost identical to that worn by the knights of the Order of the Dannebrog.

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

Current knights and officers

Sovereign of the Royal Danish Orders of Chivalry

Knights of the Elephant

Knights of the Elephant listed by date of appointment

Officers of the Chapter of the Royal Danish Orders of Chivalry

  • Chancellor: HRH Prince Henrik, The Prince Consort
  • Secretary: Mr Henning Fode, Chamberlain, Private Secretary to HM The Queen
  • Treasurer: Ambassador Paul Fischer, LL.D., Chamberlain
  • Secretary of the Chapter: Mr Per Thornit, Chamberlain, Chief of TRH The Crown Prince and The Crown Princess's Household
  • Historiographer of the Chapter: Professor Knud J.V. Jespersen, dr. phil.

Other notable knights

Previous knights have included:

  • Tycho Brahe, astronomer (1578)[9]
  • Heinrich Rantzau, German-Danish humanist writer and statesman (1580)
  • de:Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein, military leader (17th century) (German wikipedia)
  • Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, Dutch lieutenant-admiral (1659)
  • Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, Dutch vice-admiral (1659)
  • Cornelis Tromp, Dutch and Danish admiral-general (1676)
  • Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann, politician and landowner (1790)
  • J.B.S. Estrup, Danish landowner, politician and President of the Council of State (1878)
  • Vilhelm Thomsen, Professor, Dr. Phil., Danish linguist (1912)
  • H.N. Andersen, Danish businessman, Consul-General, titular Councilor of State (1919)
  • C.G.E. Mannerheim, President of the Republic of Finland, Marshal of Finland (1919)
  • Stanisław Wojciechowski, President of the Republic of Poland (1923)
  • Tomáš Masaryk, President of the Czechoslovak Republic (1925)
  • The great Reza Shah of Persia (former name of Iran) (1937)
  • Miklós Horthy, Austro-Hungarian vice-admiral, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1940)
  • Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, British Field Marshal (1945)
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, General of the Army (1945)
  • Niels Bohr, Professor, Dr. Phil. & Scient. & Techn., Danish physicist and Nobel laureate, Manifested Copenhagen interpretation ("atom theory") (1947)
  • Sir Winston Churchill, British prime minister and Nobel laureate (1950)
  • Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (1954)
  • Julius Nyerere, President of the United Republic of Tanzania (1970)
  • Josip Broz Tito, President of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (1974)
  • Nicolae Ceauşescu, President of the Socialist Republic of Romania (Note: Awarded on the November 1980 state visit to Denmark, but revoked by the Queen on December 23, 1989. The insignia have been returned to Denmark and Ceauşescu's name has been deleted from the official rolls.)

References

  1. ^ "The Royal Orders of Chivalry". The Danish Monarchy. 14 January 2011. http://kongehuset.dk/publish.php?dogtag=k_en_his_ord. Retrieved 1 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Rosenborg Slot - Objects
  3. ^ The knights of the Order were often called the Blue Knights (in reference to the color of their ribbon), as opposed to the White Knights (again, in reference to the color of their ribbon) of the junior Danish order of chivalry, the Order of the Dannebrog, also instituted by Christian V.
  4. ^ In an article entitled "Has anyone seen our elephant?" The July 1, 2004 issue of the Copenhagen Post reported that the original mold for the elephant badge had been stolen from the court jeweler, Georg Jensen.
  5. ^ Originally this cross was formed of six brilliant cut diamonds, but at present it is formed of six small hemispherical silver beads.
  6. ^ I.e., at Danish coronations.
  7. ^ Listing for Princess Marie of Denmark on Danish government information website. (Danish)
  8. ^ Official List of Knights of the Order of the Elephant. (Danish)
  9. ^ Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon, entry "Tycho Brahe" (Danish)

See also

  • Some of the elephant badges on exhibit at Rosenborg Castle: [2], [3], [4].
  • For the history and insignia of the original confraternity of Christian I see Boulton, D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre, 1987. The Knights of The Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325–1520, Woodbridge, Suffolk (Boydell Press), (revised edition 2000).
  • Database over Danish Medals, Including Order of the Elephant

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