Prior to the Reformation, which shook Europe and divided the Church in the 1400s, religious “clubs” such as the Order of the Elephant were a common feature of aristocratic life. At the time of the creation of the Order of the Elephants, Christian I was King of Denmark, and in fact Norway and Sweden also created a personal union known as the Kalmar Union. During this period, the club’s emblem was a statue of the Virgin Mary holding her son within a crescent moon. This was suspended from a collar formed by links in the shape of an elephant. This fraternity changed over the centuries, but after the Reformation it endured a period when such clubs were suspected and suppressed.
In 1580, Frederick II (8 Fredericks before the present Frederick) revived the cult and replaced the mother and child medallions with elephants (an eccentric but Reformation-safe Protestant approach!). However, it was King Christian V who gave the club an official statue and founding order in 1693. At this point, it was scheduled to consist of 30 noble knights, a grand master (king), and his sons. For the first time in 1958, the statute was amended by Royal Decree to allow the nobility of women as members of the Order.