(At Long Last!) The Final Armorial Plaques of the Order of the Dannebrog

I know you think it's been a long time coming, but today we have the final pictures of armorial plaques of members of the Order of the Dannebrog. (But never fear! We aren't done with the heraldry in Frederiksborg Castle yet. Next time we're going to start on the other aisle on this floor of the Chapel, the one displaying the armorial plaques of the members of the Order of the Elephant.)

But for today, these are the plaques on the other side of the window alcove from the ones we looked at in our last post, all inducted in 1959 and 1960.

Once again, you can click on an image to see a larger, more detailed picture. And, as always, the blazons offered here are my own.

Starting at the top left, and then going from left to right, and then down, we have the armorial plaques of:

Kristjan Johannes Jensen (1890-1961, inducted in 1960), Director General of the Danish postal service: Gules an arrow palewise point to chief argent overall a hunting horn or.

Erik Dreyer (inducted in 1960): Per pale gules and or a chevron counterchanged in dexter chief an escallop argent. A Google search for Erik Dreyer came up with way too many people who could not be or have been this Erik Dreyer.

Michael Nicolai Neiiendam (1895-1962, inducted in 1960), Danish theologian: Argent on a gabled house gules atop a foundation argent masoned sable issuant from a base wavy azure, an owl displayed or grasping in its talons an open scroll argent with a seal pendent therefrom or.

Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard (1890-1979, inducted in 1960), bishop of the diocese of Copenhagen: Azure in pale a mullet of four greater and four lesser points or and an hourglass argent, the lower half of the mullet between two Luther roses argent, heart gules and Latin cross sable.

Erhard Jorgen Carl Qvistgaard (1898-1980, inducted in 1960), Danish admiral, first Danish Chief of Defense: Per saltire gules, argent, argent and sable, in chief a crane in its vigilance argent, in dexter flank an arm in armor brandishing a sword sable, in sinister flank a scythe and a spade in saltire sable handled gules, and in base three bees(?) fesswise one and two or.

Anker Dolleris Engelund (1889-1961, inducted in 1959), civil engineer and university professor: Azure a bridge of one and two-half arches issuant from a base wavy of four traits wavy argent and azure in chief two mullets of six points or.

Johannes Frandsen (1891-1968, inducted in 1959), Medical Director, National Board of Health’s medical council, member of Parliament, President of the Danish Red Cross: Per chevron grady azure and argent in base a rooster azure combed and wattled gules beaked and legged or.

Rudolf Lassen (1882-1973, inducted in 1959), Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and The Ministry of Social Affairs: Azure a sword palewise proper between two roses in fess all between seven mullets of six points, one, two, and four or.

Next time, the Order of the Elephant!

More Heraldry from the 1950s

Not all of the members who received the Order of the Dannebrog were Danish. In this window alcove, three of the eight shields are for inductees from the Kingdom of Thailand.

Here's an overview of this side of the alcove, following which we'll take a detailed look at the individual plaques.

As always, the blazons offered here are my own.

Starting at the upper left, and then moving left to right and then down, we have the arms (or in some instances, the pseudo-heraldry) of:

Johan Vilhelm Filip Vest (1893-1966, inducted in 1959), Danish naval officer, court marshal and chamberlain: Gules an anchor bendwise sinister argent surmounted by a baton bendwise sable garnished and tipped or. (or, Gules in saltire an anchor argent and a baton sable garnished and tipped or.)

Johan Otto Söderhjelm (1898-1985, inducted in 1958), Finnish lawyer, RKP politician and multiple minister: Per pale: Or a griffin segreant gules, and Azure a pentagonal bastion between in pale two mullets argent.

Prince Galavarnadis Diskul, Commodore (later Vice-Admiral), Royal Thai Navy (inducted in 1958) A non-heraldic design of a Thai god or warrior kneeling.

Thanom Kittikachorn (1911-2004, inducted in 1958), Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, Thai Prime Minister: A quasi-heraldic design, Or (two letters in Thai abugida [script] azure.

Phya Manava Raja Sevi (1890-1984, inducted in 1958), Thai legal officer: a non-heraldic design of a Thai god, I presume.

Otto Irminger Kaarsberg (1894-1979, inducted in 1958), President of the Supreme Court: Azure a cross couped and a trimount issuant from base argent. An outstanding example of simple heraldry!

William Borberg (1885-1958, inducted in 1956), diplomat and Ambassador to the United Nations: Gules within a star of David or on a hurt [a roundel azure] a cross arrondy and a bordure or.

Erik Christopher Voldemar Møller (1896-1972, inducted in 1957), Chief of the Army: Gules on a pale argent between two millrinds or a cannon barrel azure.

Back to the 18th Century!

Forging ahead on our review of many of the armorial plaques of the Order of the Dannebrog displayed in Frederiksborg Castle, we "return ... to those thrilling days of yesteryear" (as the introduction to the old Lone Ranger television series put it, and look at a few more arms from members of the Order inducted in the 18th Century.

Beginning with the plaque at the the top left and then moving to the right, and then down to the left, and so on, we find the following coats of arms.

As always, please click on the image above to see a larger and more detailed photo of these plaques.

Lawrence de Boysset (1633-1728, inducted in inducted in 1717), a French-born Danish military officer and landowner: Or a tree proper on a chief azure two fleurs-de-lis or.

Conrad Detlev, Count of Reventlow (1704-1750, inducted in inducted in 1728) Quarterly: 1, Azure three birds [sparrows?] argent; 2, Per pale argent and gules; 3, Argent a double-headed eagle displayed sable crowned or; and 4, Azure on a bend argent three roses gules; overall an inescutcheon surmounted by a coronet or, Gules masoned sable a chief embattled argent [possibly; Per fess embattled argent and gules masoned sable]. He married, 1731, Wilhelmina Augusta (1704–1749), daughter of Prince Christian Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön-Norburg.

Joachim von Pritzbuer (1665-1719, inducted in inducted in 1712), Danish budget councilor: Argent a decapitated double-headed eagle displayed sable legged or the severed necks spewing gouttes gules. [Okay, am I the only one a little disturbed by this one?].

Magnus Kragh (inducted in inducted in 1721) Argent three birds (inducted in ravens? blackbirds?) sable. (I’m guessing that all of the Magnus Kraghs I am finding on Facebook YouTube, and Spotify are not this Magnus Kragh).

Christian Møinichen (1683-1749, inducted in inducted in 1727), Chief Secretary of the Danish Chancellery: Or a blonde monk’s head proper (canting arms).

Christian Wedel, Count of Wedellsborg (inducted in 1727), Quarterly: 1 and 4, Or a cannon barrel sable [proper?] crowned or; 2 and 3, Gules a lion rampant or; overall on a roundel per pale gules and sable a man’s head and torso proper vested and hatted per pale sable and gules, a bordure compony gules and sable. [That’s weird, right? Yeah, that’s not exactly how it should look. Below is a better image pulled from geni.com of what it should be.] I’m not certain who this specific individual is, unless it is Christian Gustav Wedell-Wedellsborg (1701-1759), but he would have been very young (only 26) to have been inducted into the Order in 1727.)

The Amount, and Variety, of the Heraldry at Frederiksborg Castle Can Be a Bit Overwhelming

At least, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, looking at these recent posts. And to think that we're not even to the other aisled of this floor of the Chapel, where the armorial plaques of the members of the Order of the Elephant are!

Still, I find many of these shields fascinating, and I hope that you do, too!

Here we have five more armorial plaques of members of the Order of the Dannebrog: 

Kresten Refslund Thomsen (1884-1960, inducted in 1954), county governor and chamberlain: Gules a fess argent and in chief two hearts or; 

Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns (1911-2002, inducted in 1954), Foreign Minister of the Netherlands 1956–71, Secretary-General of NATO 1971–84: Azure a bend argent between in chief three mullets of six points two and one or and in base a duck argent beaked and legged or atop a terrace vert; 

Aage Svendsen (inducted in 1947) (having trouble finding this Aage Svendsen as opposed to other Aage Svendsens): Gules an open book argent bound sable on it the word LEX azure, in chief a lamp of knowledge argent lit or; 

Bodil Nyboe Andersen (born 1940, inducted in 2005), Danish economist: Per pale azure (inducted in almost bleu celeste) and argent, a wreath of ten maple leaves counterchanged; and 

Haldor Frederik Axel Topsøe (1913-2013, inducted 2008), Danish engineer and founder and Chairman of the catalysis company Haldor Topsøe: Azure a cross pommety nowy argent between four wheat (inducted in barley?) stalks in saltire based to center or.

And now we come to one that I photographed by itself, because I have long had an interest in aircraft (especially military, and more especially WWII, but also in general), and because aircraft are so very rare in heraldry.

Carl Christian Jacob Førslev (1891-1959, inducted in 1955), Lt. General, first commander of the Danish Air Force 1950-1955: Azure a chevron between two early 1950s-era jet fighter aircraft argent and a heart or.

If the aircraft were tortoises or insects, we might blazon them as tergiant (having the back turned towards the spectator), or volant en arriere (used of insects, and signifying that they have their back to the spectator). On the other hand, it could be argued that this posture is or should be the default for aircraft, as being its most identifiable orientation (with the possible exception of a Boeing 747, which may be more identifiable from a side view where you can see the "hump" of the cockpit and second-level lounge.

If these aircraft were American-built, I would say that they are P-80 Shooting Stars with wingtip long-range fuel tanks (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-80_Shooting_Star), but I do not find that P-80s were ever flown by Denmark, just by the USA, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

What will we see next time?

More Danish Heraldry, from the Mid-20th Century and Early 21st Century

Continuing our look at some of the armorial plaques of members of the Order of the Dannebrog in Frederiksborg Castle, we come these eight shields, the top five and then the bottom three, on one wall in a window alcove. (Again, click on an image to see a larger and more detailed picture. And as usual, the blazons are my own.)

Starting and the top left, then running left to right and then down, we find the armorial plaques of:

Flemming Emil Harald Albrecht Lerche (1878-1972, inducted in 1948), Danish diplomat and chamberlain: Per chevron azure and gules a chevron throughout argent between in chief to mullets of eight points or and in base three birds argent; 

Johan Christian Westergaard Kruse (1880-1964, inducted in 1949), Danish ambassador: Argent two bars wavy azure overall a tree eradicated gules on a chief azure three mullets of six points argent; 

Otto Carl Mohr (1883-1970, inducted in 1950), Danish lawyer and diplomat: Or a female Moor’s head proper ear-ringed or; 

Aage Helgesen Vedel, Vice Admiral (1894-1981, inducted in 1949) a non-heraldic design: On a roundel argent on an equilateral triangle per pale or and vert an altar argent enflamed proper and a rose branch flowered vert, on a base pointed counterchanged argent and azure a serpent involved or; and

Erik Andreas Mathias Biering (1876-1964, inducted in 1949), Danish diplomat: Or a plough overall a caduceus on a chief azure a Latin cross argent between two mullets of six points or.

The top two plaques in the next picture are the bottom two plaques above. The remaining three plaques are the arms of: 

Aage Immanuel Tang Barfod (1878-1956, inducted in 1950), Danish head of department who played an important role in the design of the Danish public school through the 20th century: Azure a leg couped below the knee proper; 

Hans Jesper Helsø (born 1948, inducted in 2007), Chief of Defence: Argent a tree eradicated sable leaved vert in chief a Latin cross gules, the tree’s trunk and roots between three pellets two and one; and

Anders Troldborg (born 1941, inducted in 2007), Head of Department, Ministry of Defense, former Director, the Danish Prison and Probation Service and head of department, Ministry of Justice: Argent a devil’s face gules orbed and toothed (fanged?) argent, pupiled sable, a base embattled gules masoned argent. (It is possible that the field is meant to be Per fess embattled argent and gules masoned argent, but the line of division here is really too low for it to be accurately considered “per fess”.)

Next time, we'll have something for military aircraft lovers!

Some 21st Century Danish Heraldry

Do you enjoy seeing these armorial plaques of the members of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog and seeing a little bit about the people whom they memorialize as much as I enjoy having seen, photographed, and then researched just a little about them? I do hope that you are not being bored by what some people might see as a fairly monotonous exercise.

In any event, today we're going to look at some more of the armorial plaques of members of the Order of the Dannebrog, some inducted into the Order in the 1990s, and the rest inducted in the 21st Century, all on one wall at the side of one alcove in Frederiksborg Castle.

As ever, you can click on an image to see a larger, more detailed version, and the blazons here are my own, and thus may not necessarily match any official blazons of these arms.

Kjeld Georg H. Hillingsø (born 1935, inducted in 1995), Lieutenant General (ret.), Azure a cross formy and in base three bars wavy argent; Ole Due (1931-2005, inducted in 1994), Danish judge and the President of the European Court of Justice, Azure an open book argent overall a hanging balance whose upright is a sword inverted [or, reversed] in base two branches of oak crossed in saltire or; and Niels Erling Nygaard Ersbøll (born 1926, inducted in 1994), Chief and Ambassador EC Representation, 1973-77, Secretary-General of the EU Council of Ministers 1980-94, Per bend or and azure.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen (born 1964, inducted in 2009), Danish Prime Minister 2009-2011 and 2015-2019, Azure a tree issuant from a mount argent its trunk between two mullets or; Svend Aage Kundby Nielsen (1933 – 2019, inducted in 2000), naval officer and Queen Ingrid’s Chief of Court, Azure a winged anchor or between in chief a mullet of four points gyronny argent and sable and a key palewise wards to base or; Per Thornit (born 1942, inducted in 2006), Danish Chamberlain and Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary’s chief-of-court, Gules two eagle’s heads erased and a rose or.

Alain D.M.M. Cavallier (inducted in 2008), Argent a mounted knight armed cap-a-pie his horse rearing azure between three fleurs-de-lis gules; and Henning Fode (born 1948, inducted in 2012), Danish civil servant who is the Private Secretary to Margrethe II of Denmark, Per pale or and azure a standing balance on a base two hearts all counterchanged.

Danish Heraldry from the 1950s to the 2010s

Continuing our review of the heraldry of some of the members of the Order of the Dannebrog, all to be found in Frederiksborg Castle, we find these painted plaques, over a span of some sixty years.

As always, please click on an image to see a larger, more detailed photograph of these plaques and arms. And, as ever, the blazons are my own, and may not match exactly with any official blazons.

Eigil Hilmar Wolff (1914-1983, inducted into the Order in 1976), a Danish military officer and Chief of NATO Defense College in Rome 1973-75, Azure a demi-wolf argent; Erling E. Kristiansen (inducted in 1977), Danish Ministry of Labor official, Per fess: Argent a swallow sable legged or the top of its head gules; Azure a scroll bendwise argent sealed gules between a tierce gules charged with a cross throughout argent and a sinister tierce gules charged with a pale argent; and Theodor Frederik Gjerulff (inducted in 1976), Per bend argent a gules a bend or between a lattice vert and a wolf courant argent, both bendwise.

Uffe Ellemann Jensen (born 1941, inducted in 2002), Minister for Foreign Affairs, Or a gillyflower and in base a bar engrailed of two points azure; and Poul Hartling (1914-2000, inducted in 1977), Prim Minister of Denmark 1973-75, Azure a Latin cross argent issuant from a heart or.

Mom Luang Dej Snidvongs (1898-1975, inducted in 1958), Minister of Economic Affairs of Thailand, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, and President of the (Thai) Privy Council, A non-heraldic design, though based on a fleur-de-lis; Armas Yöntilä (1892-1979, inducted in 1958), Finnish diplomat, Azure three aspen [birch?] leaves in pall stems to center argent; and Jacques Hermann (inducted in 2001), Azure an oak leaf argent.

 Christian Hvidt (born 1942, inducted in 2001), Danish Chief of Defense 1996-2002, Gules a Latin cross paty argent on a chief azure fimbriated three barrulets argent; and Ove Ullerup (inducted in 2012), Ambassador and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Per chevron ployé or and gules two lion’s heads azure langued gules and a globe between two branches of laurel conjoined in base argent.

Charles Marie Jean Michel Andre de Monpezat, Count of Laborde (1907-1998, inducted in 1967), Gules a lion rampant and in chief three mullets or; and his wife, Renée-Yvonne (Renée) Doursenot, Countess de La Borde (1908-2001, inducted in 1992), Gules a lion rampant and in chief three mullets, on a chief or a bear sejant erect sable between two roses or.

The Heraldry of Some 1980s Inductees to the Order of the Dannebrog

Continuing our review of the armorial plaques of members of the Order of the Dannebrog in Frederiksborg Castle, today we're going to look at some (on one side of one of the alcoves) who were inducted into the Order in the 1980s.

Again, the blazons are my own.

Beginning at the top, going from left to right, and working our way down, we have the armorial plaques of:

Mogens Erik Wahl (1918-1986, inducted in 1983), cabinet secretary and national ombudsman in the Faroe Islands: Argent a whale haurient embowed sable;

Peter Marlenson Christensen (inducted in 1982), Per fess indented of two points azure and or each point tipped with an oak leaf counterchanged; and

Knud Jørgensen (1919-1990, inducted in 1983), General and Chief of Defense, Azure a winged hand argent maintaining a baton gules tipped argent.

Moving down we have:

Knud Jørgensen again;

Hans Juul Sølvhøj (1919-1989, inducted in 1983), a Danish politician and government minister, Gules a mountain argent;

Arnold Mærsk McKinney Møller (1913-2012, inducted in 1983), Danish shipping magnate, Azure a mullet of seven points argent; and

Otto Katharus Lind (1920-2000, inducted in 1985), General and Chief of Defense, Gules an aspen leaf or.

And finally, we have:

Otto K. Lind again;

Paul Henning Fischer (inducted in 1988), Ambassador, Azure mullety argent a globe or; and

Sven Egil Thiede (1924-2005, inducted in 1988), Admiral, who succeeded General Lind as Chief of Defense, Quarterly per fess wavy of two troughs azure and argent.

Next time, some from the 1970s, and some from the 2000s. (How's that for an odd mix of eras?)

Some 17th Century Heraldry of the Order of the Dannebrog

Continuing our look at some of the older armorial plaques of members of the Order of the Dannebrog in Frederiksborg Castle, here are some of the members who were inducted into the Order in the late 17th Century

Johann Frederick von Levetzow (inducted in 1683), Argent a [I do not know what this artifact is] gules; Otto Rantzau, third lensgreve (count) of Rosenvold (1632-1719, inducted in 1674), Quarterly: 1 and 4, Gules two lion’s jambes in saltire or; 2 and 3, Or three torteaux one and two; overall an inescutcheon crowned with the coronet of a count, Per pale gules and argent.

Johann von Lewenhielm (1682), Per pale: Azure issuant from the sea on a rock proper a tower, a chief and a base argent; Gules a lion rampant crowned or.

Matthias Moth (died 1699, inducted in 1693), a Danish stateman whose biggest claim to fame that I can find seems to have been that he was the brother of Sophie Amalie Moth, mistress of King Christian V, Quarterly: 1 and 4, Argent three hearts gules; 2 and 3, Or three bars gules; overall an inescutcheon Azure in pale a crescent moon pendent argent and mullet of five points inverted [or, reversed] or.

Conrad Bierman von Ehrenschild (1629-1698, inducted in 1684), Quarterly: 1 and 4, Azure three wheat stalks or; 2 and 3, Or a duck sable beaked and legged gules swimming on a base of water proper; overall an inescutcheon Gules a rose argent.

Next time, no more of this "old" stuff! We'll look at the plaques of some late 20th Century members of the Order of the Dannebrog.