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For a future Queen of Denmark, an engagement ring inspired by the flag of her new home country was the choice of her groom.

Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson, an Australian marketing executive, had been dating since the late summer of 2000, having met at the Slip Inn in Sydney during the 2000 Summer Olympics. The young royal did not reveal his identity to Mary; she only found out he was the Crown Prince of Denmark after meeting.

Between 2001 and 2003, they carried out an inter-continental romance, with constant press speculation that Mary would one day be a royal bride. In September 2003, it was announced that Queen Margrethe planned to give her consent to their marriage in an upcoming Council of State meeting, and on 8 October, the couple officially announced their engagement.

Mary’s ring featured an emerald-cut diamond flanked by two ruby baguettes, a design that mimicked the Danish flag.

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Patriotic engagement rings seem to be the trend within the current Danish Royal Family. In 2008, Prince Joachim—Crown Prince Frederik’s younger brother—proposed to his French fiancée with a diamond ring that featured a sapphire and ruby, mimicking the French flag.

On 14 May 2004, Crown Prince Frederik and Mary were married at Copenhagen Cathedral, and Mary officially became the Crown Princess of Denmark. Upon her marriage, she also officially gained Danish citizenship, having been required to renounce her Australian citizenship.

The couple have four children together: Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

Years after their wedding, Crown Princess Mary altered her engagement ring so that two diamonds bookended the rubies, adding heft. Still, there could also be hidden meaning behind it as well: the rubies and diamonds flanking the central diamond could represent the royal couple’s four children.