Order of the Elephant

The Order of the Elephant is the highest Order (decoration) of Denmark. The Order is of ancient origin, but was instituted in its current form on December 1 1693 by King Christian V. The statute of the Order was amended in 1958 by a Royal Ordinance so that both men and women could be members of the Order.

Membership

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.

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Previous non-royal members have included:

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• Vice-Admiral Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer (1659)
• Admiral-General Cornelis Tromp (1676)
• General Dwight David Eisenhower (1945)
• Field Marshall Sir Bernard Law Montgomery (1945)
• Sir Winston Churchill (1950)
• Professor Vilhelm Thomsen (1912)
• Hans Niels Andersen (1919)
• Professor Niels Bohr (1947)
• Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (2000)
• Nicolae Ceausescu, former President of Romania (Note: Awarded on the November 1980 State Visit to Denmark but revoked by the Queen on 23/12/1989 for the first time in history. The insignia have been returned to Denmark and Ceausescu's name has been deleted from the Official Rolls)
• Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito (1974)

The current Knights of the Order - "Riddere af Elefantordenen"

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• Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland
• Emperor Akihito of Japan
• Albert II, Prince of Monaco
• Princess Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
• Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
• Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
• Princess Benedikte of Denmark
• Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
• King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand
• Algirdas Brazauskas, President of Lithuania
• Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil
• King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
• Carl Gustaf Oscar Frederik Christian
• Carl Johan Bernadotte
• Charles, Prince of Wales
• Christian, Count of Rosenberg
• Infanta Cristina of Spain
• King Constantine II of Greece
• Emil Constantinescu, former President of Romania
• Princess Elisabeth of Denmark
• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
• Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran
• Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former President of Iceland
• Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
• Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France
• Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
• Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway
• Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
• King Harald V of Norway
• Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
• Prince Hitachi of Japan
• Ion Iliescu, President of Romania
• Ingolf, Count of Rosenberg
• Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
• Prince Joachim of Denmark
• King Juan Carlos I of Spain
• Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
• Rudolf Kirchschläger, former President of Austria
• Mauno Henrik Koivisto, former President of Finland
• Milan Kucan, President of Slovenia
• Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa
• Princess Märtha Louise of Norway
• Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
• Lennart Meri, former President of Estonia
• Prince Michael of Greece
• Empress Michiko of Japan
• Prince Mikasa of Japan
• Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt
• Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Chairman of A. P. Møller Group
• Queen Noor of Jordan
• Queen Paola of Belgium
• Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
• Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, Crown Prince of Belgium
• António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes, former President of Portugal
• Johannes Rau, President of Germany
• Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
• Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, former President of Italy
• Queen Silvia of Sweden
• Queen Sirikit Rajini of Thailand
• Mário Soares, former President of Portugal
• Queen Sofia of Spain
• Queen Sonja of Norway
• Petar Stoyanov, former President of Bulgaria
• Guntis Ulmanis, former President of Latvia
• Prince Vajiralongkorn, Crown Prince of Thailand
• Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
• Lech Walesa, former President of Poland
• Richard von Weizsäcker, former President of Germany
• Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange