Hellenic Army officer rank insignia

This article describes the military rank insignia used by the Hellenic Army. The current insignia date back to the late 1930s, when British-style insignia were adopted. Since then, they have undergone minor changes to reflect the changes of regime, from the monarchy to the military regime and, since 1974, the current Republic.

Insignia[]

The insignia currently in use are:

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Hellenic Army^[1] v t
Hellenic Army^[1] v t			Στρατηγός Stratigos		Αντιστράτηγος Antistratigos		Υποστράτηγος Ypostratigos		Ταξίαρχος Taxiarchos		Συνταγματάρχης Syntagmatarchis		Αντισυνταγματάρχης Antisyntagmatarchis		Ταγματάρχης Tagmatarchis		Λοχαγός Lochagos		Υπολοχαγός Ypolochagos			Ανθυπολοχαγός Anthypolochagos			Δόκιμος Έφεδρος Αξιωματικός Dokimos efedros aksiomatikos

Dokimos Efedros Axiomatikos – Officer Designate
Anthypolochagos – Second Lieutenant
Ypolochagos – Lieutenant
Lochagos – Captain
Tagmatarchis – Major
Antisyntagmatarchis – Lieutenant Colonel
Syntagmatarchis – Colonel
Taxiarchos – Brigadier
Ypostratigos – Major General
Antistratigos – Lieutenant General
Stratigos – General

Historical insignia (1908–1937)[]

This system was based on the Russian imperial insignia, just as was the case in many other Balkan states in the late 1800s, with a slight adaptation. It was replaced with a British-style system (which is currently in use) in 1937.

Greece
(Edit)

Field marshal

No equivalent

General

Lieutenant General

Major General

Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel

Major

Captain

Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Officer Designate

Στρατηγός

Αντιστράτηγος

Υποστράτηγος

Συνταγματάρχης

Αντισυνταγματάρχης

Ταγματάρχης

Λοχαγός

Υπολοχαγός

Ανθυπολοχαγός

Δόκιμος Έφεδρος Αξιωματικός

Notes[]

Stratarchis (OF-10)[]

The rank of Stratarchis (Στρατάρχης, equivalent to Field Marshal or General of the Army) has been historically used, but is no longer extant. It was first awarded to King Constantine I for his leadership in the Balkan Wars. The rank was subsequently assumed by his successors upon accession,^{[citation needed]} until the abolishment of the monarchy. The only regular officer to have been awarded the rank was General Alexander Papagos on 28 October 1949.

Officer Designate[]

The rank of Δόκιμος Έφεδρος Αξιωματικός Dokimos Efedros Axiomatikos or ΔΕΑ (Officer Designate) is reserved for conscripts who successfully enroll in and graduate from officer training school. These Officer Designates serve for 5 months longer than regular conscripts. It is a transitional rank, in which someone serving for a minimum of 6 months at a post reserved for a commissioned officer (usually leading a platoon) can be nominated for a Second Lieutenant commission. Officer Designates are considered of equal rank to career warrant officers, but the latter have greater seniority. The Officer Designate rank is functionally equivalent to the rank of Third Lieutenant, with a NATO designation code of OF(D).
The color of the striped pattern on the rank insignia of the Non-Regular Professional Officers' battledress and service uniforms denotes the branch of the wearer e.g. Red/White for infantry, Green/White for Cavalry/Armor, Black/White for Artillery, Grey/White for Research/IT, Red/Blue for Technical corps etc.
Officer Designates have no particular insignia for their fatigues, but instead wear two branch insignia collar patches.
Before being nominated as Officer Designates, candidates must undergo and successfully complete a training period as ΥΕΑ (Υποψήφιοι Έφεδροι Αξιωματικοί Ypopsifii Efedri Axiomatiki, Reserve Officer Candidates, NROC) in their specific branch training school. They are further subdivided into ΥΕΑ Α' (alpha or junior) and ΥΕΑ Β' (beta or senior), according to course seniority, and can further obtain honorary NCO ranks within the training school, depending on their progress and scores, e.g. NROC Corporal (Δεκανέας ΥΕΑ Dekaneas YEA), NROC Sergeant (Λοχίας ΥΕΑ Lokhias YEA) and so on. NROCs can only wear fatigues, like enlisted soldiers, and wear collar insignia with one (alphas) or two (betas) colored stripes, denoting their weapon and corps branch. NROC NCOs wear only one such insignia and the proper NCO rank collar patch for their rank.