Denmark

H.M. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

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Grand Master of 

Order of the Elephant  - Established 1 December 1693 by H.M. King Christian V of Denmark
Motto:   
The Order of the Elephant (Danish: Elefantordenen) is the highest order of Denmark. It has existed since 1693, and is almost exclusively bestowed on royalty and heads of state.
A Danish religious confraternity called the Fellowship of the Mother of God with a badge of the Virgin Mary holding her Son within a crescent moon and surrounded with the rays of the sun, which hung from a collar of links in the form of elephants, much like the present collar of the Order, and limited to about fifty members of the Danish aristocracy was founded during the reign of Christian I. After the Reformation 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. 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. 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.

  

Order of the Dannebrog -  Established: 1671 by King Christian V
Motto:  God and the King (Gud og Kongen) 
The Order of Dannebrog (Danish: Dannebrogordenen) is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons. In 1808, the Order was reformed and divided into four classes