Admiral Amiral
Flag of the admiral
Shoulder mark and sleeve insignia of a Swedish four-star admiral.
Country	Sweden
Service branch	Swedish Navy
Abbreviation	Am (Swedish),[1] Adm (English)[2]
Rank group	Flag officer
Rank	Four-star[a]
Formation	1522
Next lower rank	Vice admiral
Equivalent ranks	General

Admiral (Adm) (Swedish:Amiral, Am) is afour-star commissionednaval officer rank in theSwedish Navy. Admiral ranks immediately abovevice admiral and is equivalent togeneral.

In Sweden, the admiral's rank first appeared during the reign ofGustav I, who in 1522 gave it toErik Fleming, aCouncil of the Realm. During Gustav's reign as king and throughout the latter part of the 16th century, the highest command of a fleet was led by aöversteamiral ("colonel admiral"), to whose assistant aunderamiral was appointed. It was not until 1569 that a permanentöversteamiral was appointed; In 1602 the title was exchanged forriksamiral ("Admiral of the Realm"). The first permanentunderamiral was appointed in 1575; his office ceased in 1619. Vice admiral is first mentioned in 1577. The admirals of theSwedish Navy have, incidentally, been as follows:generalamiral ("general admiral"),amiralgeneral ("admiral general"),storamiral ("grand admiral"),överamiral,riksviceamiral ("ViceAdmiral of the Realm"),amiralgenerallöjtnant ("admiral lieutenant general"),amirallöjtnant ("lieutenant admiral"),schoutbynacht andkonteramiral ("rear admiral"). As names for special positions, there has been:befälhavande amiral ("commanding admiral"),skeppsgårdsamiral ("shipyard admiral"),holmamiral ("islet admiral") andvarvsamiral ("shipyard admiral").^[3]

Admiral is equivalent to the rank ofgeneral^[3] in theSwedish Army, theSwedish Air Force, theSwedish Coastal Artillery (until 2000) and as well as in theSwedish Amphibious Corps (from 2000). Historically, during the 20th century, vice admirals were promoted one grade upon retirement to full four-star admiral. The last time this happened was in 1991 when vice admiralBror Stefenson was promoted to admiral in connection with his retirement from the navy.^[4] According to current practice only royals and theSupreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, if he were to come from theSwedish Navy, can hold the rank of a full, four-star, admiral in Sweden.

Following a proposal from theSwedish Armed Forces, theGovernment of Sweden decides on employment as an admiral.^[5]

In everyday speech, admirals of all ranks are addressed as admirals.^[6][7]

Theshoulder mark of a Swedish admiral contains a 45 mmgalloon m/51 and four^[b] 25 mm star m/30 in silver embroidery on a white background: The center distance between the stars on the shoulder mark must be 27 mm.^[8]

• 
  Shoulder mark of a Swedish admiral (1972–present)
• 
  Shoulder mark of a Swedish admiral (1878–1972)

A flag officer wears on the sleeves a 45 mmgalloon (GALON M/51 45MM K) and a rank insignia (GRADBETECKNING M/02 TILL ÄRM FLOTTAN) (round loop, theAmphibious Corps has a pointed loop in form of a grenade).^[9]

• 
  Sleeve insignia for an admiral (2003–present)
• 
  Carl XVI Gustaf with current sleeve insignia for an admiral (2003–present)
• 
  Sleeve insignia for an admiral (1972–2003)
• 
  Carl XVI Gustaf with old sleeve insignia for an admiral (1972–2003)
• 
  Sleeve insignia for an admiral (1878–1972)
• 
  Jacket m/78 (1878) with long trousers and vest for admiral. Has been carried by AdmiralÅke Lindemalm.

A flag officer wears as embellishments a gold embroidered oak leaf wreath (known asscrambled egg) on the visor of thepeaked cap (skärmmössa m/48). It also fitted with a hat badge (mössmärke m/78 off för flottan) and with a strap in form of a goldenbraid.^[10]

• 
  Peaked cap model 1948 worn byStig H:son Ericson.
• 
  Cap badge
• 
  Admiral's uniform. Once owned by KingOscar II and preserved atLivrustkammaren.
• 
  Admiral's peaked cap, once belonging to KingOscar II.

An officer wears a hat badge (mössmärke m/78 off) for the navy and another (mössmärke m/87 off) for amphibious units on the side cap (båtmössa m/48) and on the winter hat (vintermössa m/87).^[11]

Admiral's command flag, which admirals of all ranks carry on ships, where they are as commanders. On athree-masted ship, an admiral's flag flies on top of the main mast (vice admiral's flies on the top of the fore-mast and rear admiral's on top of the mizzen-mast).^[12] The command flag of an admiral (and ageneral) is a doubleswallowtailedSwedish flag. In the first blue field 4 five-pointed white stars placed two over two^[13] (before 1972 by 3 stars placed one over two).

The flag of the admiral (and vice admiral and rear admiral) is flown on ships of the navy, from which officer of the rank now mentioned exercises his command, or on which he travels in the service, but not on ships on which he is in the capacity of exercise leader.^[14]

A flag officer (for example an admiral) who holds the position ofSupreme Commander, Chief of Operations,Chief of Navy, Chief ofMaritime Component Command or naval force commander, may carry an admiral flag on a car in which the commander in question travels in uniform. On airplanes/helicopters, vice admirals (flag officers) may carry a command sign in the form of an image of an admiral flag.^[15]

• 
  Admiral/General^[c]command flag (4 stars)^[17]
  (1972–present)
• 
  Admiral/General^[c]command flag (3 stars)^[16]
  (1905–1972)
• 
  Admiral command flag
  (1875–1905)^[16]
• 
  Admiral command flag
  (1836–1844)^[16]

When raising or lowering flags of the commander's, squadron, department or division commander, a gun salute is given with 17 rounds for admiral (15 for vice admiral and 13 for rear admiral).^[18]

The following have been promoted to the rank of admiral in the Swedish Navy between 1900 and 2026.  This colour indicates that the person was appointedhonorary admiral in the Swedish Navy.

Image	Country	Name	Year promoted	Born	Died	Notes	Ref
		Fredrik von Otter	1900	1833	1910	Prime Minister of Sweden (1900–1902)	[19]
		Hjalmar af Klintberg	1903	1835	1912	Chief of theFleet Staff (1889–1903)	[20]
		Edward VII	1905	1841	1910	Honorary Admiral King of the United Kingdom and theBritish Dominions,Emperor of India (1901–1910)	[21]
		Gustaf V	1907	1858	1950	King of Sweden (1907–1950)
		Nicholas II	1908	1868	1918	Honorary Admiral Emperor of Russia (1894–1917)	[22]
		Louis Palander	1910[d]	1842	1920	Minister for Naval Affairs (1901–1905)	[23]
		Wilhelm Dyrssen	1923	1858	1929	Commanding Admiral, Stockholm Naval Station (1916–1923)	[24]
		George V	1923	1865	1936	Honorary Admiral King of the United Kingdom and theBritish Dominions,Emperor of India (1910–1936)	[25]
		Carl August Ehrensvärd	1926	1858	1944	Chief ofHis Majesty's Military Staff (1924–1944)	[26]
		Henning von Krusenstierna	1927	1862	1933	Chief of the Naval Staff (1916–1927)	[27]
		Alfonso XIII	1927	1886	1941	Honorary Admiral King of Spain (1886–1931)	[25]
		Otto Lybeck	1936	1871	1947	Chief of the Naval Staff (1927–1936)	[28]
		Fabian Tamm	1947	1879	1955	Chief of the Navy (1939–1945)	[29]
		Frederik IX of Denmark	1947	1899	1972	Honorary Admiral King of Denmark (1947–1972)	[30]
		Gustaf VI Adolf	1950	1882	1973	Crown Prince of Sweden (1907–1950) King of Sweden (1950–1973)
		George VI	1951	1895	1952	Honorary Admiral King of the United Kingdom and theBritish Dominions (1936–1952)	[31]
		Stig H:son Ericson	1961	1897	1985	Chief of the Navy (1953–1961)	[32]
		Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland	1969	1912	1997	Prince of Sweden (1912–1997)	[33]
		Åke Lindemalm	1970	1910	2004	Chief of the Navy (1961–1970)	[34]
		Carl XVI Gustaf	1973	1946	—	King of Sweden (1973–present)
		Bengt Lundvall	1978	1915	2010	Chief of the Navy (1970–1978)	[35]
		Bror Stefenson	1991[d]	1929	2018	Chief ofHis Majesty's Military Staff (1990–1997)	[4]

• List of admirals of Sweden
• Military ranks of the Swedish Armed Forces

• Braunstein, Christian (2004).Svenska försvarsmaktens fälttecken efter millennieskiftet [The flags and standards of the Swedish armed forces after the turn of the millennium](PDF). Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023; 7 [dvs 8] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer.ISBN 91-971584-7-X.SELIBR 9815350. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2018-05-22. Retrieved2020-08-26.
• Broomé, Bertil (1975–1977)."A F Hjalmar Klintberg".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 21.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.
• Burling, Ingeborg, ed. (1962).Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1963 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1963] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.SELIBR 9649168.
• Dahl, Torsten; Bohman, Nils, eds. (1954).Svenska män och kvinnor: biografisk uppslagsbok. 7 Sibylla-Tjällgren (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier.SELIBR 53806.
• Jönsson, Lena, ed. (2000).Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 2001 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 2001] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.ISBN 9172850426.SELIBR 8261515.
• Laestadius, Patrik, ed. (2015).Reglemente: uniformsbestämmelser 2015 : Unibest FM 2015(PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Swedish Armed Forces.SELIBR 19513428. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 22 January 2019.
• Lybeck, Otto (1949)."Carl August Ehrensvärd".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 12.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.
• Lybeck, Otto, ed. (1945).Svenska flottans historia: örlogsflottan i ord och bild från dess grundläggning under Gustav Vasa fram till våra dagar. Bd 3 [1815-1945](PDF) (in Swedish). Malmö: Allhem.SELIBR 795890.
• Norberg, Erik (1992–1994)."Fredrik W Otter, von".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 28.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.
• Meijer, Bernhard, ed. (1904).Nordisk familjebok: konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi (in Swedish). Vol. 1 (New, rev. and rich ill. ed.). Stockholm: Nordisk familjeboks förl.SELIBR 8072220.
• Odelberg, Wilhelm (1992–1994)."A A Louis Palander af Vega".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 28.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.
• Salander Mortensen, Jill, ed. (1996).Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1997 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1997] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.ISBN 91-1-960852-7.SELIBR 3681533.
• Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1984).Sveriges statskalender. 1984 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber.ISBN 91-38-90400-4.SELIBR 3682782.
• Stenfelt, Gustaf (1920).Svenskt nautiskt lexikon: praktisk uppslagsbok för sjömän och maskinfolk, skeppsredare, konsulatpersonal, sjöassuradörer, skeppsmäklare, jurister m.fl (in Swedish). Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.SELIBR 28204.
• Unger, Gunnar (1945)."Wilhelm Dyrssen".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 11.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.
• Wikland, Erik (1975–1977)."Henning V M Krusenstierna, von".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 21.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.
• Åberg, Alf (1982–1984)."Otto E Lybeck".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 24.National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved31 August 2023.

• Swedish admirals
• Four-star officers
• Military ranks of the Swedish Navy

• CS1 Swedish-language sources (sv)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Swedish-language text
• Articles with hCards