The Order of the Elephant

The Order of the Elephant (Danish: Elefantordenen) is the highest order of Denmark.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. South Africans might recognise one of the former foreign heads of state's names on this plaque which was put up in Fredriksborg Castle, Hillerod after he received his order. -RS

A Royal Elephant

The last of the elephants from the Copenhagen Elephant Parade that I want to show, is this one. The artist for it is the Prince Consort Henrik of Denmark and the design is similar to the design of the Order of the Elephant, the highest order in Denmark. And appropriate enough this elephant have a view to the real elephants in the Copenhagen Zoo.

A Knight's Shield

The walls and stairwells of the church at Frederiksborg Castle are covered with shields with colourful and fanciful emblems. These are the shields of all the recipients of the two Danish orders; the Order of the Elephant and the Order of Dannebrog (the name for the Danish flag), and the church is actually a Knight's Chapel for these two orders. When looking at the names you get a very good picture of who's who in 400 years of Danish history, and even tourists will recognize names like Eisenhower, Churchill, Montgomery, De Gaulle, Mandela and numerous other heads of state and international figures, who have been given the Order of the Elephant. Nicolae Ceauşescu's is not there any more though.