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A Knight's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog has been put up for sale by Haitham Rashid Wihaib, a former advisor to Saddam Hussein. Queen Margrethe has requested it be withdrawn from sale and returned to Denmark. It is not yet clear how Saddam Hussein came to be in possession of the order, as he was never given one. The cross pictured on the website among items for sale by Haitham Rashid Wihaib appears to be from the time of Christian X, Queen Margrethe's grandfather, who was alive when Saddam Hussein was 10 years old. It is still a puzzle as to how it came to be in Hussein's possession. It is customary for orders to be returned after the death of the recipient as they are given to a person, not a country and they are not passed on to family.
The Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog was instituted in 1671. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the King, and his sons. In 1808, the Order was reformed and it was divided into four classes: the Grand Commander class and below that the three regular classes of the Order: Grand Cross (first Order class), Commander 1st Degree and Commander (second Order class), and Knight 1st Degree and Knight (third Order class). The Cross of Honour is attached to the Order of the Dannebrog.
Today, the Order of Dannebrog is a means of rewarding the faithful servants of the modern welfare state for meritorious civil or military service, for a particular contribution to the arts, sciences or business life or for those working for Danish interests.
The monarch heads the Order.
The badge of the Order of the Dannebrog is a white and red-enamelled Dannebrog cross, for the Knights in silver and for everyone else in gold. The cross hangs in the crowned monogram of the bestowing monarch. On its front, the cross bears the crowned monogram of Christian V as well as the motto of the Order: Gud og Kongen (God and the King). On the reverse, the crowned monograms of Valdemar II Sejr, Christian V and Frederik VI, as well as the years 1219, 1671 and 1808 appear. In each of the four angles of the cross a royal crown has been placed.
