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-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
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

Other ranks

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

NATO code	OR-9	OR-8	OR-7	OR-5		OR-4	OR-3	OR-2	OR-1
Royal Danish Air Force^[2] v t e
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
Rank (example)	Home	INTOPS	Pilot suit	Pullover	Shirt	Sleeve
Chefsergent^[4]			None
Kaptajn^[4]

Historical ranks

Officer ranks

Rank group					Senior officers			Junior officers
1950–1951
1950–1951	General	Generalløjtnant	Generalmajor		Oberst	Oberstløjtnant		Kaptajn	Kaptajnløjtnant	Flyverløjtnant 1		Flyverløjtnant 2
?–?^[5]
?–?^[5]	General	Generalløjtnant	Generalmajor		Oberst	Oberstløjtnant		Kaptajn	Kaptajnløjtnant	Flyverløjtnant 1		Flyverløjtnant 2
?–?^[6]
?–?^[6]	General	Generalløjtnant	Generalmajor		Oberst	Oberstløjtnant		Kaptajn	Kaptajnløjtnant	Premierløjtnant	Løjtnant		Sekondløjtnant
1983–?
1983–?	General	Generalløjtnant	Generalmajor	Brigadegeneral	Oberst	Oberstløjtnant	Major	Kaptajn		Premierløjtnant		Løjtnant

Other ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs					Junior NCOs			Enlisted
1959–1962^[7]
1959–1962^[7]	Overfenrik	Fenrik	Oversergent	Sergent		Korporal		Flyverelev	Math	Mathelev
1965–1989^[8]
1965–1989^[8]	Seniorsergent af 1. grad	Seniorsergent af 2. grad	Oversergent	Sergent	Sergent (conscipted)	Korporal	Korporal (conscipted)	Overkonstabel af 1. grad	Overkonstabel af 2. grad	Konstabel

Rank insignia 1951-1962

References

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Flyvevåbnets Gradstegn" (PDF). forsvaret.dk (in Danish). Danish Defence. October 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Historik" [History]. forpers.dk (in Danish). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
^ ^a ^b "FKOBST F.628-1 Uniformsbestemmelse for Flyvevåbnet" (PDF). Forsvaret (in Danish). Air Force Command. July 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
^ Møller, N. Olaf (1956). "Flyvevåbnets Gredstegn M.V." (in Danish). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
^ 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.
^ United States Department of the Army (1962). "Military Uniforms - DA Pam 355-120 - 1959 to 1962 - Part 2". Archive.org. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
^ 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.

[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.

[Denmark_AirForce-2] "Flyvevåbnets Gradstegn" (PDF). forsvaret.dk (in Danish). Danish Defence. October 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.

[forpers-3] "Historik" [History]. forpers.dk (in Danish). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 26 September 2018.

[FKOBST-4] "FKOBST F.628-1 Uniformsbestemmelse for Flyvevåbnet" (PDF). Forsvaret (in Danish). Air Force Command. July 2020. p. 6. Retrieved 27 March 2024.

[5] Møller, N. Olaf (1956). "Flyvevåbnets Gredstegn M.V." (in Danish). Retrieved 21 February 2022.

[6] 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.

[US_Department_of_the_Army-7] United States Department of the Army (1962). "Military Uniforms - DA Pam 355-120 - 1959 to 1962 - Part 2". Archive.org. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

[8] 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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]