Rank insignias as worn by the Austro-Hungarian Land Forces after the reorganisation in 1867 until 1918

Ranks

Ranks within the Austro-Hungarian Land Forces

German	Hungarian	US equivalents
Troops
Soldat / Jäger / Schütze / Kanonier	Honvéd	Private /Rifleman Rifleman Although ultimately originating with the 16th century handgunners and the 17th century musketeers and streltsy, the term rifleman originated from the 18th century. It would later become the term for the archetypal common soldier.-History:...  / Gunner Artillery Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...  / Lancer Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...  / et cetera.
Gefreiter	Őrvezető	Private First Class Private First Class Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...
Non Commissioned Officers
Korporal	Tizedes	Corporal Corporal Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
Zugsführer	Szakaszvezető	Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Feldwebel	Őrmester	Master Sergeant Master Sergeant A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in some armed forces.-Israel Defense Forces:Rav samal rishoninsignia IDF...
Stabs-Feldwebel (since 1913)	Törzsőrmester	Sergeant Major Sergeant Major Sergeants major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In Commonwealth countries, Sergeants Major are usually appointments held by senior non-commissioned officers or warrant officers...
Offiziersstellvertreter (since 1915)	Tiszthelyettes	Warrant Officer Warrant Officer A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
Officer Aspirants
Kadett-Offiziersstellvertreter (until 1908)	Hadapród-Tiszthelyettes	Cadet Deputy Officer
Kadett (since 1908)	Hadapród	Cadet Officer Cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military and merchant navy cadets during their training to become commissioned officers and merchant navy officers, respectively. The term officer trainee is used interchangeably in some countries...
Fähnrich (since 1908)	Zászlós	Ensign Ensign An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...
Officers
Leutnant	Hadnagy	Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
Oberleutnant	Főhadnagy	First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
Hauptmann (Rittmeister in the cavalry)	Százados	Captain
Major Major Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...	Őrnagy	Major Major Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Oberstleutnant	Alezredes	Lieutenant-Colonel
Oberst	Ezredes	Colonel Colonel Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Generalmajor	Vezérőrnagy	Major-General
Feldmarschallleutnant	Altábornagy	Lieutenant-General
General der Infanterie	Gyalogsági Tábornok	General of the Infantry
General der Kavallerie	Lovassági Tábornok	General of the Cavalry
Feldzeugmeister	Táborszernagy	General of the Artillery
Generaloberst (since 1915)	Vezérezredes	Colonel-General
Feldmarschall	Tábornagy	Field-Marshal (General of the Army General of the Army General of the Army is a military rank used in some countries to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nation's Army. It may also be the title given to a General who commands an Army in the field.... )

Note

The ranks displayed after the "/" are the Hungarian equivalents of the Austrian ranks, since they were used in this format in the Magyar Királyi Honvédség (Royal Hungarian Home Defence Forces).

Ranks and rank insignias of the Austria-Hungarian Army

The different colors of the rank patches and buttons on the tunic are the marks for identifying the infantry regiments (except Generals)

Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery	Rifles	Rank insignias	Rank insignias mountain rifles Gebirgsjäger Gebirgsjäger, in English Mountain Riflemen, is the German designation for mountain infantry. The word Jäger is the traditional German term for rifleman...
Troops
Infanterist / Honvéd Military of Hungary The Hungarian Defence Force is the national military of Hungary. It currently has two branches, the Hungarian Ground Force and the Hungarian Air Force....  (hung.) (Private)	Dragoner Dragoon The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...   Husar Hussar Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....   Ulan Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...	Kanonier Gunner (rank) Gunner is a rank equivalent to Private in the British Army Royal Artillery and the artillery corps of other Commonwealth armies. The next highest rank is usually Lance-Bombardier, although in the Royal Canadian Artillery it is Bombardier....	Jäger Rifleman Although ultimately originating with the 16th century handgunners and the 17th century musketeers and streltsy, the term rifleman originated from the 18th century. It would later become the term for the archetypal common soldier.-History:...
Gefreiter Private First Class Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...  / Őrvezető (hung.) (Private 1st Class)	Gefreiter	Vormeister Főtűzer	Patrouillenführer Járőrvezető
(NCO's)
Korporal Corporal Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....  / Tizedes (hung) kapral (polish) (Corporal)	Korporal	Geschütz-Vormeister	Unterjäger
Zugsführer Sergeant Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....  / Szakaszvezető (hung.) (Sergeant)	Zugsführer	Zugsführer	Zugsführer
Feldwebel / Őrmester (hung.) (Master-Sergeant)	Wachtmeister	Feuerwerker	Oberjäger
Kadett-Feldwebel / Kadétőrmester Hadapród) (Cadet-Sergeant, since 1908 Cadet)	Kadett-Wachtmeister (Kadett)	Kadett-Feuerwerker (Kadett)	Kadett-Oberjäger (Kadett)
Stabs-Feldwebel  / Törzsőrmester (Sergeant-Major since 1913 - insignias until 1914)	Stabs-Wachtmeister	Stabs-Feuerwerker	Stabs-Oberjäger
Stabs-Feldwebel / Törzsőrmester (Sergeant-Major, insignias after 1914)	Stabs-Wachtmeister	Stabs-Feuerwerker	Stabs-Oberjäger
Offiziersstellvertreter (seit dem 6. Juni 1915) / Tiszthelyettes (Warrant-Officer)	Offiziersstellvertreter	Offiziersstellvertreter	Offiziersstellvertreter
Officers-Candidates
Kadett-Offiziersstellvertreter Hadapród-Tiszthelyettes (Cadet-Warrant-Officer) (until 1908)	Kadett-Offiziersstellvertreter	Kadett-Offiziersstellvertreter	Kadett-Offiziersstellvertreter
Fähnrich (ab 1908) / Zászlós (Officers-Candidate) (since 1908 - replaced the CWO)	Fähnrich	Fähnrich	Fähnrich
Low Grade Officers
Leutnant Lieutenant A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...  / Hadnagy (Lieutenant)	Leutnant	Leutnant	Leutnant
Oberleutnant First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...  / Főhadnagy (1st Lieutenant)	Oberleutnant	Oberleutnant	Oberleutnant
Captains
Hauptmann Hauptmann Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...  / Százados (Captain)	Rittmeister Rittmeister Rotamaster was the military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in charge of a squadron , the equivalent of O3 or Captain, in the German-speaking armies, Austro-Hungarian, Polish-Lithuanian, Russian and some other states.The exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spellings in different...	Hauptmann	Hauptmann
Staff-Officers
Major Major Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...  / Őrnagy	Major	Major	Major
Oberstleutnant / Alezredes (Lieutenant-Colonel)	Oberstleutnant	Oberstleutnant	Oberstleutnant
Oberst Colonel Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...  / Ezredes (Colonel)	Oberst	Oberst	Oberst
Generals
Generalmajor / Vezérőrnagy (Major-General equiv. to Brigadier-General)
Feldmarschalleutnant / Altábornagy (Lieutenant-Field-Marshal equiv. to Major-General)
General der Infanterie Gyalogsági tábornok (General of the Infantry)	General der Kavallerie Lovassági tábornok (General of the Cavalry)	Feldzeugmeister Feldzeugmeister Feldzeugmeister was a military rank in various European armies , especially in the artillery. It was commonly used in the 16th or 17th century, but could even be found in the beginning of the 20th century in some European countries...  / Táborszernagy (General of the Artillery)
General General A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given.... oberst / Vezérezredes (Colonel-General) (since 1915)
Feldmarschall / Tábornagy (Field-Marshal)

Note

The embroideries of the collars of the ranks Major to Colonel were always in the same color as the tunic buttons (silver/gold). The rank stars were converse (silver embroidery - golden star(s))

The ranks Lieutenant to Captain had stars in the same color as the tunic buttons.

See also

Military ranks of Austria

Military ranks of Hungary

Military ranks of Hungary

The following table contains the military ranks of the Hungarian Army, both Land Forces and Air Force ranks are all the same. Information taken from .-See also:*Army ranks and insignia of the Austro-Hungarian Army*Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers...

Sources

• Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlifhen Museums in Wien Das k.u.k. Heer im Jahre 1895 Edition Leopold Stocker Graz

1997 ISBN 3-7020-0783-0

• Rest,Ortner,Illming Des Kaisers Rock im 1. Weltkrieg Edition Militaria Vienna 2002 ISBN 3-9501642-0-0