Ranks and insignia of Royal Danish Air Force

The Royal Danish Air Force ranks follow the NATO system of ranks and insignia, as does the rest of the Danish Defence. The ranks used are based on the Royal Air Force, with some minor changes. For example, three strips in the RAF is an OF-4, while only an OF-3 in Denmark. ^[1]

Current ranks

Officers

The highest officer's rank is OF-9 (General) which is reserved for the Chief of Defence (only when this seat is occupied by an Air Force officer). Similarly, OF-8 (Lieutenant general) is reserved for the Vice Chief of Defence. OF-7 (Major general) is used by the chief of the Air Staff and OF-6 (Brigadegeneral) by the chief of a brigade as well as keepers of high-office positions.

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1
Royal Danish Air Force [2] v t e
			General		Generalløjtnant		Generalmajor		Brigadegeneral		Oberst		Oberstløjtnant		Major		Kaptajn		Premierløjtnant		Løjtnant		Sekondløjtnant
Shirt insignia
Danish Pay Grade [3]			M406		M405		M404		M403		M402		M401		M332 M331 M322		M321		M312		M311		M310

Rank flags

Rank	General	Generalløjtnant	Generalmajor	Brigadegeneral
1979–present [4]

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Royal Danish Air Force [2] v t e
	Chefsergent						Seniorsergent		Oversergent								Sergent			Sergent (Officerselev)			Korporal				Flyverspecialist		Flyveroverkonstabel						Flyverkonstabel
Shoulder board
Danish Pay Grade [3]	M232						M231		M221								M212			M211			M113				M112

Additional ranks

NATO Code	OR-9		OR-8	OR-5	OR-1
Service uniform
Shoulder board
Danish [2]	Flyvevåbnets Chefsergent	Myndighedschefsergent/ Wingchefsergent	Myndighedsbefalingsmand/ Eskadrillebefalingsmand/ Afdelingsbefalingsmand	Befalingsmandselev	Flyverkonstabelelev	Værnepligtig menig
English	Chief Master Sergeant of the Royal Danish Air Force	Wing Command Senior Enlisted Leader	Squadron Command Senior Enlisted Leader	Sergeant trainee	Aircraftman, trainee	Conscript

Colour structure for OR-1–3
	Technical	Administrations	Operations
Shoulder board

Clerical personnel

• Clerical personnel
• 
  Air Force Dean
• 
  Air Force Chaplain
• 
  Air Force Conscript Chaplain

Types of rank insignia

Rank (example)	MTS		Pilot suit	Pullover	Service
	Home	INTOPS			Shirt	Sleeve
Chefsergent [5]			None
Kaptajn [5]

Historical ranks

Officer ranks

Rank group	General/Flag/Air officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
1950–1951
			General		Generalløjtnant		Generalmajor				Oberst		Oberstløjtnant				Kaptajn	Kaptajnløjtnant	Flyverløjtnant 1			Flyverløjtnant 2
1951–1962 [6]
			General		Generalløjtnant		Generalmajor				Oberst		Oberstløjtnant				Kaptajn	Kaptajnløjtnant	Flyverløjtnant 1			Flyverløjtnant 2
1962–1970
			General		Generalløjtnant		Generalmajor				Oberst		Oberstløjtnant		Major		Kaptajn		Flyverløjtnant 1			Flyverløjtnant 2
1970–1983 [7]
			General		Generalløjtnant		Generalmajor				Oberst		Oberstløjtnant		Major		Kaptajn		Premierløjtnant		Løjtnant		Sekondløjtnant
1983–2009
			General		Generalløjtnant		Generalmajor		Brigadegeneral		Oberst		Oberstløjtnant		Major		Kaptajn		Premierløjtnant			Løjtnant

Other ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
1959–1962 [8]
									Oversergent								Sergent						Korporal				Flyverelev		Math						Mathelev
1965–1989 [9]
	Seniorsergent af 1. grad						Seniorsergent af 2. grad		Oversergent								Sergent			Sergent (conscipted)			Korporal		Korporal (conscipted)		Overkonstabel af 1. grad		Overkonstabel af 2. grad						Konstabel

Warrant officers

Rank group	Warrant officers
1951–1970 [8]
	Overfenrik	Fenrik

References

1. Marrup, Karsten (1 May 2017). "Stop galskaben med midlertidige tillagte grader!" [Stop the madness with temporary added ranks!]. OLFI (in Danish). Retrieved 13 September 2018.
2. "Flyvevåbnets Gradstegn" (PDF). forsvaret.dk (in Danish). Danish Defence. October 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
3. "Historik" [History]. forpers.dk (in Danish). Ministry of Defence . Retrieved 26 September 2018.
4. "FKOBST L.202 - 4: Ceremoniel i Forsvaret" (in Danish). Danish Defence. October 2019. p. Bilag 3 til Tillæg A. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
5. "FKOBST F.628-1 Uniformsbestemmelse for Flyvevåbnet" (PDF). Forsvaret (in Danish). Air Force Command. July 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
6. Møller, N. Olaf (1956). "Flyvevåbnets Gredstegn M.V." (in Danish). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
7. Chief of the Army (1971). "Gradstegn m.v. for personel af Flyvevåbnet og Flyverhjemmeværnet". Grundbog for Hærens menige: HRN 212-10 (in Danish). Copenhagen: S. L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri. p. 266. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
8. United States Department of the Army (1962). "Military Uniforms - DA Pam 355-120 - 1959 to 1962 - Part 2". Archive.org. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
9. Davis, Brian L. (1988). NATO Forces: An Illustrated Reference to Their Organization and Insignia . Blandford Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN   0-7137-1737-8 . Retrieved 11 April 2022.

External links

• "Flyvevåbnets gradstegn" (PDF). forsvaret.dk (in Danish). Danish Defence. October 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
• "Badges and Insignia of the Danish Air Force" (PDF). forsvaret.dk. Danish Defence. November 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.