Ranks in the French Army

The ranks in the French Army :

Marshals

The title of Maréchal de France is awarded as a distinction, rather than a rank. The marshals wear seven stars and a baton.

Famous examples include Maréchal Leclerc, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Marie Pierre Koenig and Alphonse Juin.

An infamous example would be Philippe Pétain, who became famous as Maréchal Pétain, and retained his title even after his trial and imprisonment and after he was stripped of other positions and titles.

Officers

Officers are divided into

• the regular officers of the Army
• the commisary of the Army
• the officers of the technical and administrative corps of the Army.

They all wear the same insignia and titles.

Généraux - General officers

• Général d'armée: In command of an army. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division

• Général de corps d'armée: In command of a army corps. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division

• Général de division : in command of a division.

• Général de brigade : in command of a brigade, or of a légion in the Gendarmerie

The title "général" originates in the ancient rank of "capitaine général" (literally, "general captain"), who was in command of the whole army.

The is no distinction between infantry and cavalry generals, since they are all supposed to be able to command any type of unit.

Officiers supérieurs - Senior officers

• Colonel : in command of a regiment or a groupement (in the Gendarmerie). During the French Revolution, they were called "chef de brigade". The origin of the difference in metal color is that infantry officers once wore silver epaulettes, while those of the cavalry and other arms wore gold, and the color of the rank badge had to differ from these metals in each case.
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry and other arms (armes à cheval)

• Lieutenant-colonel: same responsibilities as a colonel. They were called "major" during the First French Empire. Notice that the metal colors alternate silver and gold in each case, as opposed to those of the colonels. This characteristic goes back at least to alternating stripes on the headdress of that empire.
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry and other arms (armes à cheval)

• Commandant: also called chef de bataillon in the infantry, chef d'escadrons in the cavalry and chef d'escadron in the artillery.
  • 
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The word "colonel" originates in the title capitaine colonel, "the one who commands a column (regiment). Lieutenant-colonel is the one who can "stand for" a colonel (lieu-tenant, tenir lieu = to stand for). Chef, "chief", comes from Latin caput="head".

Officiers sulbalternes - Junior officers

• Capitaine: in command of a company (infantry), a squadron (cavalry) or a battery (artillery)
  • 
  • 

• Lieutenant: in command of a section (infantry), a peloton (cavalry) or a brigade (gendarmerie)
  • 
  • 

• Sous-lieutenant: same prerogatives as the lieutenant
  • 
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• Aspirant : Acting Officer or Officer Candidate.
  • 

• Élève-officier : During the first years at the schools of École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr or École militaire interarmes
  • 

Majors

• Major: same prerogatives as the lieutenant
  • 

Note the difference with Anglo-Saxon ranking systems, where "majors" rank as commandants.

Sous-officiers - Warrant officers

• Adjudant-chef : same prerogatives as the lieutenant. In the cavalry, they are addressed as "Mon lieutenant" by lower ranks, but by "Mon adjudant" by higher ranks.

There is a joke that says that beyond details of the uniform, the difference between a lieutenant and an adjudant-chef in that "the first one is young, while the second is old".

• • adjudant-chef des armes à pied
  • adjudant-chef des armes à cheval

• Adjudant : same prerogatives as the lieutenant
  • 
  • 

• Sergent-chef (infantry) or Maréchal des logis-chef (cavalry), addressed as "chef"
  • Sergent-chef
  • Maréchal des logis-chef

• Sergent (infantry) or Maréchal des logis (cavalry) : in command of a group
  • Sergent
  • Maréchal des logis

• Student warrant officer at the ENSOA.
  • 

The "Major" is the "Major warrant officer", the adjudant is the adjoint ("aid") of an officer and the sergeant "serves" (Latin serviens) in the Army.

The aspirants or sous-lieutenants are rookie officers and are aided by adjudants or adjudants-chefs, who are experienced warrant officers. The lieutenant are experienced junior officers, aided by sergeants who are learning how to command a section.

Militaires du rang - Enlisted

• Caporal-chef de première classe. Distinction created in 1999.

• Caporal-chef (infantry) or Brigadier-chef (cavalry) : in command of a team

• Caporal (infantry) or Brigadier (cavalry) : in command of a team. Note that in the Swiss Army, a Brigadier is a colonel in charge of a brigade (the Swiss army reserves the title of "general" for times of war), and thus effectively ranking général de brigade.

• Soldat de première classe. This is a distinction rather than a rank.

• Soldat de deuxième classe: No rank insigna nore command Depending on the arm, they are called
  • fantassin (infantry)
  • légionnaire (Légion étrangère)
  • Marsouin (Infanterie de marine)
  • artilleur (artillery)
  • bigor (artillerie de marine)
  • sapeur (engineering, including the sapeurs-pompiers de Paris)
  • chasseur (chasseurs à pied, chasseurs alpins, chasseurs à cheval)
  • dragon, cuirassier, hussard (cavalry)
  • transmetteur (signals corps)
  • conducteur (trains).

There are also distinctions to distinguish volunteers and conscripts, and barets for experience (one for five years, up to four can be obtained).

Ingénieurs du service du matériel

• Ingénieur général de première classe
• Ingénieur général de deuxième classe
• Ingénieur en chef de première classe
• Ingénieur en chef de deuxième classe
• Ingénieur principal
• Ingénieur de première classe
• Ingénieur de deuxième classe
• Ingénieur de troisième classe

Table of ranks

Maréchaux - Marechals
Maréchal
"Maréchal" is not an actual rank, but a distinction	The "six-star general" used to be the general commanding the defences of Paris. This rank is not in use anymore.
Officiers généraux - General officers
Général de brigade	Général de division	Général de corps d'armée	Général d'armée
Commands a brigade or a légion in the Gendarmerie	Commands a division	Commands a corps of army. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division.	Commands an army. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division.
Officiers supérieurs - Senior officers
			Infantry
			Cavalry
Commandant	Lieutenant-colonel	Colonel
Officiers subalternes - Junior officers
Élève officier	Aspirant	Sous-lieutenant	Lieutenant	Capitaine
Major - Major
Major
Sous-officiers - Warrant Officers
Élève sous-officier	Sergent or Maréchal des logis for cavalry	Sergent-chef or Maréchal des logis-chef for cavalry	Adjudant	Adjudant-chef
A four chevron sergent-chef major existed up till 1947
Militaires du rang - Enlisted
Soldat	Soldat Première classe	Caporal	Caporal-chef	Caporal-chef de première classe

See also

• Ranks in the French Navy