The Danneborg

Pope Honorius III. granted to Waldemar the Great, of Denmark, all the lands he could conquer from the heathen of Esthonia. Waldemar immediately raised a large army and set sail. In the first engagement with the heathen they lost their standard and began to give way, when a banner dropped from the sky bearing a white cross upon a red ground, and under this standard they won a victory. This Danneborg has ever since been the national flag of Denmark, and Waldemar on his return instituted an order of knighthood in its honor.

The thirty-five heroes upon whom the King conferred knighthood immediately after the battle, under the newly-fallen banner, were called the "First Knights of the Danneborg." Christian V. renewed the order upon the birth of his son (October 12th, 1671), and conferred the honor of knighthood upon nineteen princes. They were called "The White Knights," a white silver cross being the badge. This honor could only be conferred upon the nobility, and the number was not to exceed fifty.