Knights of the ELEPHANT, an order of knighthood in Denmark, conferred upon none but persons of the first rank and merit. It is also called the order of St Mary. Its institution is said to have arisen from a gentleman belonging to the Danish crusaders having killed an elephant in an expedition against the Saracens in 1184; in memory of which achievement King Canute instituted the order. The badge is a towered elephant, with an image of the holy virgin encircled with rays and suspended by a watered sky-coloured ribbon, like the George in England.