This order was created during the 12th century by King Canut the Sixth who gave its name in memory of a fight that a Danish gentleman had against an elephant in Palestine. If it really dated back to this century, it was totally forgotten when Christian the First used it in 1478 –so that he was considered as its creator. He used it to celebrate the wedding of his son John with the daughter of Ernest who was Duke of Saxe. Several changes occurred in 1693 thanks to Christian the Fifth who gave it its organisation as it is known now. The order works in pair with the order de la Toison d'or et de la Jarretière.
The members are the princes of the royal family, 30 knights who are kings, princes of royal families and people of the highest nobility. The Danish people can not be members if they are under 30, if they are not part of the Lutheran church or if they are not already knights of Daneborg. They wear the decoration as a sash from the right side to the left side with a badge on the left side. The ribbon is blue.