Vietnamese military ranks and insignia were specified by the

National Assembly of Vietnam The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc hội nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) is the national legislature of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Constitution of Vietnam recognizes the a ...

through the ''Law on Vietnam People's Army Officer (No: 6-LCT/HĐNN7)'' on 30 December 1981.http://www.vanbanphapluat.com/danh-muc-van-ban-phap-luat.html?view=doc&id=83282 The

Vietnam People's Army Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

distinguishes three careerpaths:

Officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...

(''sĩ quan''),

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s (''hạ sĩ quan''), and enlisted personnel (''chiến sĩ''). Because the shoulder insignia of all ranks are represented by an elongated pentagonal

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scales' ...

, they are, hence, either detailed or colour-coded to indicate rank, branch, as well as unit. The shoulder epaulettes from those of enlisted soldiers to field officers are detailed with a silver crest with an encircled silver star. Those of generals and admirals have fully golden epaulettes with corresponding golden crests and encircled stars. Ranks can show information about branches of military personnel. The branch colours that form the piping of the shoulder boards are as follows: * Army (ground forces): red * Navy: dark blue/navy blue * Air Force/ Air defence: azure * Border Defence: green * Coast Guard: blue The shoulder insignia ranks are in gold shoulder boards in the Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy. Border Defense Force's ranks are in dark green shoulder boards with red piping. Coast Guard rank and rating insignia are in blue with gold piping. Beginning in the 2010s, Navy officers were given gold sleeve insignia following the practice of most international navies, which are worn on the cuff in the full dress with the executive curl.

Table of ranks

Officers

The following are rank insignia of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...

s of the People's Army. The

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed wi ...

is an integrated force, ranks are the same in all services, with an exception of the flag officers of the Navy.

Warrant officers

The following are the insignia for warrant officers for the army, navy, air force, border guard and coast guard respectively. Rank insignia used by warrant officers since 2008 have a pink silk line running along the shoulder board (before 2008 it was a V-shaped chevron) to distinguish them from the officer corps. Naval warrant officers also have a pink border on their cuff insignia in their service dress.

Enlisted

The following are the rank insignia of

s and

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States mi ...

Table of ranks

Officers

Warrant officers

Enlisted

Lapels

Historical ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

Other ranks

See also

References

External links