Rank order and duty grade

The Swedish Armed Forces uses the term tjänsteställning to describe a comparative order of seniority and responsibility (etc.).ranks are shown in the table below.

Ranks and Insignias

The table below shows ranks according to seniority, with the most senior to the right. OF denotes officers, OR other ranks (as per STANAG 2116). Those ranks were ratified by the supreme commander on October 24, 2008 and became effective as of January 1, 2009.. Military ranks of (primarily) Great Britain have been used as a basis for harmonization with NATO.

Translation to English

This table shows the official translations of the Swedish ranks and their abbreviations.

Ranks before 1972

Note that the rank of Fältmarskalk

Fältmarskalk

Fältmarskalk was a Swedish military rank equivalent to present day NATO OF-10, and from the end of the 16th century to 1824, 77 persons have held this rank, sometimes written as General Fältmarskalk...

 (Field Marshal

Field Marshal

Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...

) was a de jure

De jure

De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....

rank before the reform of 1972, even though it has not been used since 1824.

Historical perspective of Rank order and duty grade

The Swedish Armed Forces uses the term tjänsteställning to describe a comparative order of seniority and responsibility (etc.). When the conscript army was introduced in 1901 all officers had a higher tjänsteställning than the warrant officers(underofficerare) and non-commissioned officers(underbefäl). In a reform 1926 the tjänsteställning of the then highest warrant officer, fanjunkare, was increased to be equal with the junior officer rank underlöjtnant. In 1960 the tjänsteställning of the warrant officers were elevated further so that

i. The lowest warrant officer, sergeant, had a tjänsteställning just below the lowest officer rank, fänrik.

ii. The second warrant officer rank, fanjunkare, had a tjänsteställning between fänrik and löjtnant

iii. The highest warrant officer rank, förvaltare, had a tjänsteställning between lieutenant and captain.

A reform 1972 renamed the underofficerare category kompaniofficerare and gave them the same rank titles and tjänsteställning as the junior officers (fänrik, löjtnant, kapten). The tjänsteställning of the ranks sergeant and fanjunkare were reduced such that fänrik again had a higher tjänsteställning than fanjunkare (the förvaltare rank was abolished). By a major reform (NBO 1983), professional non-commissioned and commissioned officers corps merged into a single corps called professional officers (officers).
In 2008 the Swedish parliament decided to reintroduce a two track career system with a category called specialistofficerare. It was decided that some ranks in this category should, like the old underofficerare ranks in 1960-1972, have a tjänsteställning higher than the most junior officers. The current tjänsteställning of the Swedish ranks are shown in the table below.