British Army officer rank insignia

The following are the insignia - emblems of authority - of the British Army. Badges for field officers were first introduced in 1810 and the insignia was moved to the epaulettes in 1880 for all officers in full dress.

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1
British Army
	Field marshal		General		Lieutenant-general		Major-general		Brigadier		Colonel		Lieutenant colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second lieutenant
Abbreviation:	FM	Gen	Lt Gen	Maj Gen	Brig	Col	Lt Col	Maj	Capt	Lt	2Lt	OCdt
Typical Command Size or Appointment:	In abeyance	most senior appointments	corps	division	brigade or director of operation capability on staff	Rarely a Field Command except in RAMC. Usually lowest staff officer as principal operational advisers	battalion	company/battery/ squadron	company/battery/ squadron (second in command) or leader of smaller specialised team	platoon	platoon
Typical promotion to after:								8–10 years	5 years (university graduates 3 years)	12–24 months	44 weeks officer training

General officers

Before 1767, there were no definite badges for Field Marshals and General officers. In 1767, British army issued an order to distinguish Field Marshals and different graded General officers by the combination of chevron shaped ess pattern laces on the sleeve.

• Field Marshal- Evenly spaced six laces.
• General- Evenly spaced four laces.
• Lieutenant General- Six laces in threes.
• Major General- Four laces in twos.
• Brigadier General- Three laces. Upper twos were in pair.

During Napoleonic war, Field Marshals wore oak-leaf embroidered collar and cuff; and shoulder cord instead of previous pattern. It was continued till the end of 1830.

At the beginning of 1831, new rank distinction was ordered for Field Marshals and General officers.

• Field Marshal- Cross baton and wreath designed device was on epaulettes and buttons were evenly spaced .
• General- Cross baton and sword with crown designed device on the epaulettes and buttons were evenly spaced.
• Lieutenant General- Cross baton and sword with crown designed device on the epaulettes and buttons were in threes.
• Major General- Cross baton and sword with crown designed device on the epaulettes and buttons were in twos.
• Brigadier General- No device on the epaulettes and buttons were in two.

After Crimean war (30 January 1855), War Office ordered different rank badges for British General, staff and Regimental officers. It was the first complete rank badges of British army.

• Field Marshal- Two rows of one inch wide oak-leaf designed lace on the collar with crossed baton above the wreath in silver.
• General- Two rows of one inch wide oak-leaf designed lace on the collar with Crown and star in silver.
• Lieutenant General- Two rows of one inch wide oak-leaf designed lace on the collar with Crown in silver.
• Major General- Two rows of one inch wide oak-leaf designed lace on the collar with Star in silver.
• Brigadier General- General- Two rows of half inch wide staff pattern lace on the collar with Crown and star in silver.

In 1868, Brigadier General were ordered to wear same collar like other General officers, but no device in the collar.

In 1880, War Office ordered to move rank badges from collar to shoulder.

• Field Marshal- Crossed batons above the wreath of oak-leaf. On the top of the wreath a crown.
• General- Crossed baton and sword with Crown and star.
• Lieutenant General- Crossed baton and sword with Crown.
• Major General- Crossed baton and sword with Star.
• Brigadier General- Crossed baton and sword.

In 1920, War Office abolished Brigadier General rank and introduced new rank called: Colonel Commandant (Officer commanding a Brigade) or Colonel on the staff (Officer not commanding a Brigade, but staff officer). The badges of Colonel Commandant and Colonel on the staff were same which is crown and three stars. In 1928, Brigadier rank was introduced by abolishing Colonel Commandant and Colonel on the Staff. Since 1928, Brigadier has been maintaining same rank badges of Colonel Commandant.

Regimental Officers

1791 War Office ordered to wear different graded epaulettes and wings to distinguish regimental officers (Colonel to Ensign/ Cornet). It was ordered for only line Infantry officers. According to the Army Order,

• Field officers (Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Major) wore rich epaulettes with rich bullions on both shoulders.
• Captains of Battalion company wore epaulettes with smaller bullions,
• Subalterns (Lieutenant and Ensign/ Sub Lieutenant) of similar company wore same epaulette strap with fringes on right shoulder only.
• Grenadier and Light companies Captain and Subalterns wore wings on both shoulders.

In 1795, special pattern of epaulettes was ordered for Fusiliers and Light Infantry officers. Field officers of those regiments wore epaulettes over wings. Company officers wore wings.

In February 1810, an order was issued by War Office to distinguish Field officers. In this order, device was introduced in each epaulettes.

• Colonel- Crown and Garter star (Order of the Garter)
• Lieutenant Colonel- Crown
• Major- Garter star

Aforesaid badges were issued for all infantry regiments except Foot Guards. In 1815, badges for Foot guards were ordered. In Foot guards regiments, all Field Officers were equivalent to the Colonel of line Infantry regiments. Captains were Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenants were Major and Ensigns were Captains of Battalion company of line Infantry.

• Field Officers- Crown and star (Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards used Garter star and Scot Fusilier Guards used Thistle star)
• Captain- Crown
• Lieutenant- Star
• Ensign- On device. (Ensign of Grenadier Guards wore epaulettes on both shoulders, but other two regiments wore epaulette on right epaulette.)

In 1829, epaulettes and wings were standardized by maintaining the badges of rank issued in 1810 and 1815. According to the order, epaulettes of all regular infantry regiments and foot guards regiments would be in gold and other regiments were in silver. All officers including field and company officers wore epaulettes and wings on both shoulders. Epaulettes over wings system was abolished. Different graded officer wore different sized bullion to distinguish themselves from other.

• Colonel- Epaulette bullions were three and half inches in length and Crown and Bath star (Order of the Bath).
• Lieutenant Colonel- Epaulette bullions were three and half inches in length and Crown.
• Major- Epaulette bullions were three inches were length and Bath star.
• Captain of Battalion company- Epaulette bullion were two and half inches in length and no device.
• Subaltern of Battalion company- Epaulette bullion were two inches in length and no device.
• Captain of Flank companies- Wings bullions were one and quarter inches in length and half inches in wide.
• Subalterns of Flank companies- Wings bullions were one and quarter inches in length and quarter inches in wide.

January 1855, end of Crimean war, War Office abolished all epaulette and wing rank badges. New rank badges were introduced in the collar. It was first time, complete rank badges were introduced for British army.

• Colonel- Two rows of half inch laces in collar with Crown and Bath star.
• Lieutenant Colonel- Two rows of half inch laces in collar with Crown.
• Major- Two rows of half inch laces in collar with Bath star.
• Captain- One row of half inch lace on the top of collar with Crown and Bath star.
• Lieutenant- One row of half inch lace on the top of collar with Crown.
• Ensign/ Sub Lieutenant- One row of half inch lace on the top of collar with Bath star.

Aforesaid rank badges were issued for all regiments except Foot guards.

Field officers- Two rows of half inch laces with Crown and Bath star. Captain- Two rows of half inch laces with Crown. Lieutenant- One row of half inch lace on the top of collar with Crown and Bath star. Ensign- One row of half inch lace on the top of collar with Crown.

April 1880, rank badges were moved from collar to shoulder. Officers of all regiments including Foot Guards wore following rank badges.

• Colonel- Crown and two Bath stars.
• Lieutenant Colonel- Crown and one Bath star.
• Major- Crown.
• Captain- Two Bath stars.
• Lieutenant- One Bath star.
• Second Lieutenant- No device.

In May 1902, rank badges issued in 1880 was slidely modified.

• Captain- Three Bath stars.
• Lieutenant- Two Bath stars.
• Second Lieutenant- One Bath star.

In 1919, new order was issued by Horse Guards office- all Guards officers would wear special star badges.

• Grenadier Guards- Garter star.
• Coldstream Guards- Garter star.
• Scot Guards- Thistle star.
• Irish Guards- Shamrock star
• Welsh Guards- Leek star.

Officer insignia of rank as worn on the sleeves in the World War I period.

During World War I, some officers took to wearing tunics with the rank badges on the shoulder, as the cuff badges made them too conspicuous to snipers. This practice was frowned on outside the trenches but was given official sanction in 1917 as an optional alternative, being made permanent in 1920, when the cuff badges were abolished.

Historical ranks

• Captain-general: (ca. 17th century) a full general.
• Sergeant-major-general: (ca. 17th century) shortened to major general.
• Brigadier-general: replaced by colonel-commandant in 1922.
• Colonel-commandant: replaced by brigadier in 1928.
• Sergeant-major's major: (ca. 17th century) shortened to Major.
• Captain-lieutenant: (ca. 17th & 18th century) the lieutenant of the first company in a regiment, whose captaincy was held by the regimental colonel. On promotion to full captain, the period in this rank was treated as having been a full captain for pay and pension purposes, since he effectively commanded the company.
• Ensign: lowest subaltern rank in infantry regiments; replaced in 1871 by second lieutenant, but still used to refer to second lieutenants in some Guards regiments.
• Cornet: cavalry equivalent of ensign replaced in 1871 by second lieutenant, but still used to refer to second lieutenants in some cavalry regiments, including the Blues and Royals and The Queen's Royal Hussars.

See also

• British Army other ranks rank insignia
• British Army uniform
• RAF officer ranks
• Royal Navy officer rank insignia
• Ranks and insignia of NATO Armies
• United Kingdom and United States military ranks compared
• Comparative military ranks of World War I
• Comparative officer ranks of World War II
• Comparative military ranks
• Military rank
• British Army

External links

• British Army rank structure and insignia (British Army website)
• SaBRE
• Victorian Infantry Officer Ranks
• Napoleonic Era British Military ranks at ArmchairGeneral.com