Flag
A flag is a sub-formation of a Landsknechts regiment . Each pennant consisted of several groups .
- As a unit, the ensign comprised around 400 mercenaries . At the head was the captain or captain. The term was gradually replaced by company in the military .
- A group consisted of eight to twelve mercenaries or six double mercenaries ; the group was led by a rotting master . It corresponds to today's squad or group .
Word origin and usage
The term troop since the Middle Ages describes a smaller number of grouped together people who gathered around a flag, composting comes from the medieval Latin rupta "scattered flock" to rumpere "tear".
In the 17th century, used throughout Europe word replaced Compagnia , Compagnie , company the word "troop" in the German-speaking world. It is later used by the boy scouts and migratory birds (see boy scout clan ) as well as by the German young people at the time of National Socialism . Rotte was later also used in the organizational structure of the SS and has also been preserved in the Rotte 's inaugural order in the Bundeswehr.
history
The flag was already the administrative unit for troops in the Middle Ages , especially in the infantry . At first there were 400 to 600 men, sometimes up to 1,000, in France 300 men, with Georg von Frundsberg 380 mercenaries. However, this information was the target strength, which was almost never achieved. For a long time, the actual strength of the French ensigns was no more than 100 to 200 men.
The regiments of the various armies had very different numbers of flags:
- 18 flags near Frundsberg
- 12 flags of a French legion
- 10 flags with the imperial troops during the Schmalkaldic War
The ensign consisted of riflemen , pikemen and halberds .
At the beginning of the 17th century, i.e. before the Thirty Years' War , a flag in Germany should have the following strength:
- 100 pikemen
- 160 musketeers
- 20 halberdiers
- 20 round bulls
Under Charles V , the staff or staff for a German flag counted :
- 1 captain
- 1 lieutenant , also lieutenant , Locotenens or Leutinger
- 1 ensign
- 1 sergeant
- 1 chaplain
- 1 Fourier
- 1 guide
- 2 common sergeants
- 1 or 2 drummers or pipers
- 2 so-called satellites to protect the captain
- 1 interpreter
- 2 boys for the captain and the ensign
- 1 cook
- 1 mounted servant for the captain
This frame was also called Prima Plana (from Latin prima plana , first sheet) because these people were on the first sheet of the sample lists .
literature
- Friedrich Kluge, edited by Elmar Seebold: Etymological dictionary of the German language. 24th, revised and expanded edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2001, ISBN 978-3-11-017473-1 ; Article: Flag .
