Danilo Aleksandar Petrovic-Njegoš (29 June 1871– 24 September 1939) was the Crown Prince of Montenegro. He was the eldest son of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and Queen Milena Vukotic. During the Balkan Wars and World War I he led the Montenegrin Army with his father (the King), Janko Vukotic, and Mitar Martinovic. On 1 March 1921 Danilo was proclaimed the rightful King of Montenegro (upon the death of his father) and became head of the government-in-exile until 7 March 1921 when, for reasons that are still unclear, Danilo renounced his royal claims and headship of the royal house in favour of his nephew, Prince Michael of Montenegro. His reputation was undermined by announcing his renunciation on 5 March only to publicly retract this the following day, before re-affirming it the day after that. His decision was met with much dismay amongst the Montenegrin expatriate community.

Montenegrins are an ethnic population in Montenegro whose male half almost always carried weapons. In 1831, when the Senate was established in Montenegro, the Montenegrin Guard was created by the decree of Lord Petar II Petrovic-Njegoš, which became the executive power in the field. Its number was constantly increasing - so, in 1831 the Guard consisted of one company of 156 men, and in 1834 - of 2 companies (388 men). The Guards were distributed among the nakhyas (territorial units) and were subordinate to the district kapetans. In 1837 in addition to the guards were formed perjaniks - the personal guard of the lord. Often they performed, however, the functions of secret police and executioners. Initially their number was small - 8 people, and later increased to 30 people. They were not only young men from the most respected families of Montenegro, but also the "nabolshie yunaks" - the best brave men from the most diverse families. In March 1854, Prince Danilo introduced the first insignia in the Montenegrin army - "grbovi" (coats of arms), which were metal badges worn on the kapa (traditional male headgear). "Grb" (i.e. "grbovi" in the singular) showed the rank of the soldier who wore it, as well as the belonging to one or another military or political organisation (the line between which was rather ephemeral in Montenegro). The Guards had a separate system of insignia. Ordinary guardsmen wore on their kapas the insignia of 

The House of Petrovic-Njegoš is the Serbian noble family that ruled Montenegro from 1697 to 1918. Montenegro was ruled from its inception by vladikas (prince-bishops) since 1516, who had a dual temporal and spiritual role. In 1697, the office was made hereditary in the Petrović-Njegoš family. However, since Orthodox bishops are required to be celibate, the crown passed from uncle to nephew. In 1852, Prince-Bishop Danilo II opted to marry and to secularize Montenegro, becoming Prince Danilo I. His successor, Nikola I, raised Montenegro to a kingdom in 1910. In 1916, King Nikola I was ousted by the invasion and occupation of his country by Austria-Hungary. He was formally deposed by the Podgorica Assembly in 1918 and the country merged with Kingdom of Serbia and shortly thereafter merged again with the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. A period of eighty years of control from Belgrade followed, during which time Nikola I died in exile in France in 1921, followed shortly afterwards by the surprise abdication of his son and heir, Danilo III, the same year.