Order of the Elephant current form on 1 December 1693 by King Christian V as having only one class consisting of only 30 noble knights in addition to the Grand Master (i.e., the king) and his sons. The statutes of the order were amended in 1958 by a Royal Ordinance so that both men and women could be members of the order. The elephant and castle design derives from an elephant carrying a howdah, the familiar castle replacing the unfamiliar howdah, and finds use elsewhere in European iconography, as discussed at howdah. The Danish monarch is the head of the order. The members of
Seeing the elephant up. "I have seen the elephant In some military quarters, having "seen the elephant" has been used as shorthand for having experienced combat. The first references of elephants in trail narratives and letters are positive allusions. Hopes at the beginning of the trail tended to be high and the elephant excitement directly linked to this level of anticipation. John Clark's quote from 1852 is a perfect example of the eager emigrant. "All hands early up anxious to see the path that leads to the Elephant." Not everyone was as eager to head west. If wives began the trail unwillingly and