Czech military ranks

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Czech armed forces' engineers deployed in Latvia displaying their rank insignia on the battle dress uniform (beret and chest). Ranky.jpg
Czech armed forces' engineers deployed in Latvia displaying their rank insignia on the battle dress uniform (beret and chest).

The Czech military ranks are the military insignia used by the Army of the Czech Republic. The ranks are common for all its forces (Ground, Air, Special, Cyber and Information, Territorial). They are displayed on the beret or a service hat, as well as on the chest of the battledress. On the display uniform, the rank insignia is worn on epaulettes and a head cover, and differs slightly in the Air Force, where it is displayed against a dark blue fabric (such as is the colour of the Air Forces' uniform), instead of the khaki fabric, common for the rest of the forces. For all the forces, the ranks also have the same name.

Contents

Czech Air Force and Military police officers wearing variants of display uniforms Uniformy.jpg
Czech Air Force and Military police officers wearing variants of display uniforms

The insignia differs in form for each rank group: The enlisted soldiers up to OR-4 wear so-called silver "pips", NCOs from OR-5 to OR-8 wear silver "rails", Seargant Majors (OR-9) wear a single silver star with silver bordering. The junior officers wear three-pointed golden stars, colloquially called "Mercedeses", senior officers wear five-pointed golden stars with a single golden bar, generals wear five-pointed stars with golden bordering. There are no variants distinguishing the type of Corps, Commanding officers, etc. on the battledress. The type of Corps is being distinguished by lapel badges on display uniforms, and also, to a degree, by the colour of the military beret.

The Prague Castle guard wearing uniforms of the First Czechoslovak republic's military during a ceremony. The rank is visible on the epaulettes. Prvni republika.jpg
The Prague Castle guard wearing uniforms of the First Czechoslovak republic's military during a ceremony. The rank is visible on the epaulettes.

The current appearance of the rank insignia of the Czech Armed Forces has its origins in the Czechoslovak Military of the First Czechoslovak Republic, where that form has been introduced during the 1930s. [1] During the post-war communist era, the Czechoslovak People's Army discontinued that model of insignia in 1950s in favour of the insignia adopted from the Soviet army, [2] but the original ranks' model was again re-established in the 1960s, with several modifications. [3] After a few reforms, the current form has been adopted in 2011 to put the system of ranks in accordance with the NATO countries' rank structure. [4]

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

NATO codeOF-10OF-9OF-8OF-7OF-6OF-5OF-4OF-3OF-2OF-1 OF(D) Student officer
Flag of the Czech Land Force.svg  Czech Land Forces [5]
CzArmy 2011 OF9-Armadni general shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF8-Generalporucik shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF7-Generalmajor shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF6-Brigadni general shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF5-Plukovnik shoulder.svg Lieutenant Colonel Czech Republic Army.svg CzArmy 2011 OF3-Major shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF2-Kapitan shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF1a-Nadporuchik shoulder.svg CzArmy 2011 OF1b-Poruchik shoulder.svg
Armádní generál Generálporučík Generálmajor Brigádní generál Plukovník Podplukovník Major Kapitán Nadporučík Poručík
Flag of the Czech Air Force.svg  Czech Air Force [5]
Czech-Airforce OF-9.svg Czech-Airforce OF-8.svg Czech-Airforce OF-7.svg Czech-Airforce OF-6.svg Czech-Airforce OF-5.svg Czech-Airforce OF-4.svg Czech-Airforce OF-3.svg Czech-Airforce OF-2.svg Czech-Airforce OF-1b.svg Czech-Airforce OF-1a.svg
Armádní generál Generálporučík Generálmajor Brigádní generál Plukovník Podplukovník Major Kapitán Nadporučík Poručík
NATO codeOF-10OF-9OF-8OF-7OF-6OF-5OF-4OF-3OF-2OF-1 OF(D) Student officer

Other ranks

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

NATO rank scale OR-9OR-8OR-7OR-6OR-5OR-4OR-3OR-2OR-1
Flag of the Czech Land Force.svg  Czech Land Forces [5]
CzArmy 2011 OR9-Stabni praporcik shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR8-Nadpraporcik shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR7-Praporcik shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR6-Nadrotmistr shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR5-Rotmistr shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR4-Rotny shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR3-Cetar shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR2-Desatnik shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR1a-Svobodnik shoulder.svg CzArmy2011 OR1b-Vojin shoulder.svg
Štábní praporčíkNadpraporčíkPraporčíkNadrotmistrRotmistrRotnýČetařDesátníkSvobodníkVojín
Flag of the Czech Air Force.svg  Czech Air Force [5]
CzAF 2011 OR9-Stabni praporcik shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR8-Nadpraporcik shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR7-Praporcik shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR6-Nadrotmistr shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR5-Rotmistr shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR4-Rotny shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR3-Cetar shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR2-Desatnik shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR1a-Svobodnik shoulder.jpg CzAF 2011 OR1b-Vojin shoulder.jpg
Štábní praporčíkNadpraporčíkPraporčíkNadrotmistrRotmistrRotnýČetařDesátníkSvobodníkVojín
NATO codeOR-9OR-8OR-7OR-6OR-5OR-4OR-3OR-2OR-1

See also

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References

  1. "Czechoslovak military ranks of the First republic". Kutilův zápisník. Kutil. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  2. "Czechoslovak military ranks in 1950s". Kutilův zápisník. Kutil. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  3. "Czechoslovak military ranks in 1960s". Kutilův zápisník. Kutil. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  4. "Contemporary Czech military ranks". Kutilův zápisník. Kutil. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ranks". army.cz. Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2021.