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General
General
Army and Air force insignia
Country  Denmark
Service branch  Royal Danish Army
  Royal Danish Air Force
AbbreviationGEN
Rank group General officer
Rank Four-star
NATO rank code OF-9
Pay gradeM406
Formation1567
Next lower rank Generalløjtnant
Equivalent ranks Admiral

General (Danish pronunciation: [ɡenəˈʁaːl]) is the highest rank of the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a four-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. [1]

The rank is rated OF-9 within NATO. [2] It has the grade of M406 within the Ministry of Defence's pay structure. [3] The rank of General is reserved for the Chief of Defence and the King À la suite. [4]

History

The rank can be traced back to 24 October 1567, when Daniel Rantzau was made " Captain general and Field commander" ( Danish: generalkaptajn og feltoberst) by Frederick II. [5] Until the Thirty Years' War, the rank was known as "uppermost general" ( Danish: general-øfverste). [5]

Since Denmark used German as the official command language, and was using heavily inspired German ranks, and the rank was later made service specific, with " General of the infantry" and " General of the cavalry". [6] [7] On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by King Christian V, with the publication of the Danish order of precedence. Here generals of the branch were placed below Lieutenant field marshal ( Danish: Feltmarskal Lieutenant), and above the noble rank of Count and the military rank of Lieutenant general. [8]

Following the 1842 reform, the field marshal ranks were removed, making full general the highest rank and exclusive for the King and Hereditary Prince Ferdinand. [9] As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed and only a single "General" rank was kept. [10] After the 1880 reform, the general officer ranks were reintroduced. [11] Commanding generals of the 1st and 2nd General Command were made Lieutenant generals while everyone else were made Major general. [11] Again making the general exclusive for royalty. [9]

With the creation of the Danish Defence and Defence Command, it was decided that officers promoted to Chief of Defence, be given the rank of general or admiral. [12] At the same time, the rank of general was also adopted as the highest rank for the newly created independent air force. [12]

Insignia

The first official uniform was instituted on 29 September 1737. [13] The first few uniform designs have not survived, though they were likely red, highly ornamented coats without collar. [14] The red coat remained until 1768, when Comte de Saint-Germain instituted white uniforms for generals, these were however removed shortly after, in 1769. [15] In 1772, the first real ranks were introduced to the Danish Army; these were gold rings on the cuffs, with three for full generals, two for Lieutenant generals, and one for major generals. [16] This uniform saw a number of changes until 1785, when the cuff ranks were removed. [17]

In 1801, new uniforms were introduced for the whole army. Along with the new uniforms, epaulette ranks were introduced for officers, with generals wearing six-pointed stars on their epaulettes. [18] [4] The general ranks remained largely unchanged from their introduction until 1979, and the adoption of NATO STANAG 2116. [4] The adoption created the new rank of Brigadier general, which would receive the one star, meaning the full general would end with 4 stars. [4] However, four stars were considered too big for the shoulder insignia, a new insignia therefore created featuring Marshal batons. [4] This insignia, was however, only used for a short period, and by Jørgen Lyng's appointment, the rank had changed to four-stars.

Rank insignia

  • Rank insignia for General
  • Army uniform (1801–1822)
    Army uniform (1801–1822)
  • Full dress (1822–1869) Field uniform (1822–1849)
    Full dress (1822–1869)
    Field uniform (1822–1849)
  • Full dress (1869–1889) Field uniform (1849–1889)
    Full dress (1869–1889)
    Field uniform (1849–1889)
  • Full dress (1889–1989)
    Full dress (1889–1989)
  • Field uniform (1910–1915)
    Field uniform (1910–1915)
  • ... (1915–1923)
    ... (1915–1923)
  • ... (1923–1952)
    ... (1923–1952)
  • ... (1952–1963)
    ... (1952–1963)
  • ... (1963–1983)
    ... (1963–1983)
  • ... (1983–1989)
    ... (1983–1989)
  • ... (1989–2018)
    ... (1989–2018)
  • Full dress (1989–present)
    Full dress (1989–present)
  • Field uniform (2018–present)
    Field uniform (2018–present)
  • Air force
    Air force
  • Air force sleeve
    Air force sleeve

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ STANAG 2116, p. B-2.
  2. ^ STANAG 2116, p. A-2.
  3. ^ Ministry of Defence 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e Hedegaard 1986.
  5. ^ a b Madsen 1904, p. 218.
  6. ^ Lund 1994, p. 45.
  7. ^ Editors 1935, p. 3.
  8. ^ danmarkshistorien.dk 2017.
  9. ^ a b Hedegaard 1979, p. 39.
  10. ^ Klint 1965, p. 8.
  11. ^ a b Ministry of War 1880, p. 35.
  12. ^ a b Folketinget 1950, §5.
  13. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 31.
  14. ^ Petersen 2014, pp. 31–32.
  15. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 36.
  16. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 39.
  17. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 41.
  18. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 42.

Bibliography

  • danmarkshistorien.dk (17 May 2017). "Rangforordningen, 25. maj 1671" (in Danish). danmarkshistorien.dk. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  • "Grads-Betegnelserne i Hæren". Danske Soldater (in Danish). 2 (2). 12 February 1935.
  • Folketinget (1950). "235: Forslag til lov om fosvarets ordning". folketingstidende.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  • Hedegaard, E. O. A. (1979). Den militære feltmarskalstavs historie: En våben- og krigshistorisk studie [The History of the Field Marshal's Baton: A Study of the History of Weapons] (in Danish). Forlaget ZAC.
  • Hedegaard, Ole A. (1 January 1986). "Nyt militært gradstegn - en ny/gammel tradition!". Krigsvidenskab.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  • Klint, Helge (1965). "Træk af Hærstabens historie". Hærkommandoens Årsskrift (in Danish). Nyt Nordisk Forlag: 5–11.
  • Lund, Jørn (1994). "Modersmålsundervisningens venner og fjender". Sprog I Norden (in Danish): 45–54. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  • Madsen, Emil (1904). "De nationale Tropper, samt Hærvæsenets Styrelse i det 16. Aarhundrede" (PDF). Historisk Tidsskrift (in Danish). 5 (7): 134. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  • Military Committee Land Standardization Board (13 January 2021). STANAG 2116 (7th ed.). NATO Standardization Agency.
  • Ministry of Defence (9 January 2017). "Historik". forpers.dk (in Danish). Forsvarsministeriets Personalestyrelse. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  • Ministry of War (1880). "Love og Bestemmelser, som angaae hæren". Kundgjørelser for hæren samt Love og Bestemmelser, som angaae hæren (in Danish). Copenhagen.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)
  • Petersen, Karsten Skjold (2014). Kongens klæder - Hærens uniformer og udrustning i Danmark-Norge (in Danish) (1st ed.). Slovenia: Historika. ISBN  9788793229006.
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