The rank of admiral in Canada is typically held by only one officer whose position is
Chief of the Defence Staff and the senior uniformed officer of the
Canadian Forces
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The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...
. It is equivalent to the army and air force rank of
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
.
The last naval officer to hold the rank of admiral and the position of Chief of the Defence Staff was Admiral
John Rogers Anderson.
The current naval officer to hold the rank of admiral and the position of Chief of the Defence Staff is Admiral
Art McDonald, as of January 14, 2021.
There have been three chiefs of the Defence Staff who have been an admiral:
*
John Rogers Anderson
*
Robert Hilborn Falls
*
Art McDonald
Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
held the rank of admiral in an honorary capacity and not an active regular member of the RCN from 2011 until his death in 2021.
Others have held the title but under different circumstances:
*
Charles Kingsmill
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill, (7 July 1855 – 15 July 1935) was a Canadian-born naval officer and the first director of the Department of the Naval Service of Canada. After retiring from a career in the Royal Navy, he played a prominen ...
was an admiral for the director of Naval Services of Canada, a title that is now referred to as
Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy
The Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy ( French: ''Commandant de la Marine royale canadienne'') is the institutional head of the Royal Canadian Navy. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Naval Staff and is based at National D ...
.
*
Percy W. Nelles was promoted admiral after his retirement as Chief of Naval Staff and was vice-admiral during active duty.
On May 5, 2010, the Canadian naval uniform dark dress tunic was adjusted, removing exterior epaulettes and reverting to the sleeve-ring and
executive curl
The executive curl, or the "Elliot's Eye", is the name given to the ring above a naval officer's gold lace or braid insignia. It originated with the Royal Navy.
Origins
The precise origin of "Elliot's eye" is somewhat of a mystery. One story i ...
rank insignia used by a majority of navies throughout the world. This means that a Canadian admiral's dress tunic no longer bears a single broad stripe on the sleeve, with epaulettes on the shoulders, as was the case since unification (1968), but has a broad stripe plus three sleeve rings, without any epaulettes on the exterior of the tunic (cloth rank slip-ons are still worn on the uniform shirt underneath the tunic).
Image:Canadian RCN OF-9.svg, Tunic rank insignia (2010-)
Image:Navy slip-on Adm.png, Uniform shirts
File:Canadian Admiral Shoulder Board.png, Short-sleeve white shirt and white dress tunic
Image:Navy olive Adm.png, CADPAT uniform
Image:CDN-Navy-Adm-Shoulder.svg, Dress uniform tunic between 1986 and 2010
See also
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Flag officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command.
The term is used differently in different countries:
*In many countries ...
*
Four-star rank
A four-star rank is the rank of any four-star officer described by the NATO OF-9 code. Four-star officers are often the most senior commanders in the armed services, having ranks such as (full) admiral, (full) general, colonel general, army ge ...
*
Canadian Forces ranks and insignia
This is a table of the ranks and insignia of the Canadian Armed Forces. As the Canadian Armed Forces is officially bilingual, the French language ranks are presented following the English (in italics).
Commander-in-Chief insignia
The Commander- ...
References
{{Canadian officer ranks
Military ranks of Canada
Military insignia