Canadian Forces Ranks And Insignia
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This is a table of the ranks and insignia of the Canadian Armed Forces. As the
Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
is officially bilingual, the French language ranks are presented following the English (in italics).


Commander-in-chief insignia

According to ''Canadian Forces Dress Instructions'', the king's representative (the governor general) may wear the uniform and corresponding cap/hat badge of a flag/general officer, with a special flag/general officer sleeve braid embellished with the governor general's badge, and a large embroidered governor general's badge on the shoulder straps or boards, facing forward.


Commissioned officer ranks

The 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 (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
s. Officers in the CAF hold positions of authority and respect. They are responsible for the safety, well-being and morale of a group of soldiers, sailors, air men or air women. Analyzing, planning, making decisions and providing advice are a few aspects of an Officer’s role.


Subordinate officer ranks


Non-commissioned member (NCM) ranks

The following are the rank insignia for non-commissioned members for the navy, army and air force respectively. Non-commissioned members are skilled personnel who provide operational and support services in the CAF. Non-Commissioned Members start out as recruits and are trained to do specific jobs. NCM rank insignia for the rank of petty officer 1st class/warrant officer and above are worn on the lower sleeve, while those for the rank of petty officer 2nd class/sergeant and below are worn on the upper sleeve. The Royal Canadian Navy has directed its personnel to use the English rank titles for OR-1 through OR-5, but they are not yet legally in force pursuant to the
National Defence Act The ''National Defence Act'' (NDA; ; ''LDN'') is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, which is the primary enabling legislation for organizing and funding the military of Canada. The Act created the Department of National Defence, which merged ...
, as they are not yet updated in the King's Regulations and Orders issued by the governor-in-council.


Appointments

The rank insignia for NCM appointments.


Rank slip-ons

The tables above describe the rank insignia worn on the service dress jacket. On DEU shirts, sweaters, and outerwear; and operational dress shirts and jackets, rank insignia are worn on slip-ons with the word "Canada" or a regimental/branch title embroidered underneath. Flag/general officers' slip-ons include only the crown, crossed sabre and baton, and maple leaves worn on the shoulder straps; they do not include the braid worn on the sleeve. Army NCM slip-ons for DEU shirts, sweaters, and outerwear display only the word "Canada" or a regimental/branch title, rank insignia being worn instead as enamelled metal pins on collar points or lapels.


Service stripes

From 1955 to 1968, Militia personnel were permitted to wear service insignia on the right jacket sleeve. There were one to five silver chevrons on drab backing for every two years of service or a maple leaf in silver thread on a drab cloth circle to represent 10 years of service. Chevron points were worn either up or down; even official documents and photos were confused on the matter. Further awards after 10 years were believed covered by the
Canadian Forces' Decoration The Canadian Forces' Decoration (post-nominal letters "CD") is a Canadian award bestowed upon members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have completed twelve years of military service, with certain conditions. By convention, it is also given to t ...
, which was awarded after 12 years and a clasp added for every 10 years afterwards. Qualifying service could include prior active service in the active reserves of the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force or the regular or territorial forces of a fellow Commonwealth member nation. Service in Canadian Army reserve forces units (like the regular reserve, supplementary reserve and reserve militia) did not count. The awarding of Service Stripes ceased in 1968 after the
unification of the Canadian Armed Forces The unification of the Canadian Armed Forces took place on 1 February 1968, when the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force were merged to form the Canadian Armed Forces. History A white paper was tabled in the Parliame ...
.


Canadian Army distinctive corps insignia

Every branch or corps of the Canadian Army uses a distinctive colour. Applicable only to officers, they are indicated by coloured borders of rank insignia on DEU shirt and sweater slip-ons and on
mess dress Mess dress uniform is the most formal (or semi-formal wear, semi-formal, depending on the country) type of evening-wear uniform used by military personnel, Police officer, police personnel, and other uniformed services members. It frequently ...
.


Distinctive rank names

Some branches and regiments use distinctive job titles for privates (trained) in those regiments: Additionally, the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery uses "bombardier" ( or ) for corporal and "master bombardier" ( or ) for master corporal. In the guards regiments, warrant officers are known as "colour sergeants" () and second-lieutenants are known as "ensigns" ().


Evolution of Royal Canadian Navy rank and insignia

When the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
was established in 1910, it kept with
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
traditions and adopted sleeve braid with an
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 ...
for rank insignia. "Wavy" sleeve braid was adopted for the
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve The Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) was a naval reserve force of the Royal Canadian Navy from 1923 to 1946. It replaced the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR). Foundation The RCNVR was created in 1923. The organizati ...
(RCNVR) and rings of narrow interwoven gold lace for the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve (RCNR). Other variations in rank insignia included sky blue lace with a diamond shaped loop for officers of the
Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS or "Wrens") was an element of the Royal Canadian Navy that was active during the Second World War and post-war as part of the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve until unificat ...
, and warranted Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps officers, who had a small anchor in place of the executive curl. Following the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy was reorganized with a single reserve component. In 1946, the distinctive wavy gold braid of the reserves gave way to the straight braided executive curl of the regular force until 1968. With the integration of the
Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
the sea element was designated as Canadian Forces Maritime Command. Unembellished straight braid became the common rank insignia for officers of both the regular and reserve forces. The executive curl appeared only on navy mess dress. On 5 March 2010, the Canadian House of Commons passed a motion (moved by Guy Lauzon) recommending the executive curl be reinstated on the Canadian navy uniform. Subsequently, in recognition of the Canadian Naval centennial, Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, authorized the use of the executive curl for the Canadian Navy on 2 May 2010. The insignia became effective on 11 June 2010, on the occasion of the Pacific Canadian Naval International Fleet Review parade of nations in Victoria, B.C. More than 54 countries, including Canada and 18 other of the 22 Commonwealth navies, use the insignia. Most navies that do not use the executive curl insignia, such as the United States Navy and the French Navy, substitute a star or other national device above the top row of lace.


Timeline of changes (sleeves only)


Evolution of Canadian Army ranks and insignia

Prior to unification in 1968, the
Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...
used rank insignia identical to the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. When the universal CF green uniform was adopted at unification, Mobile Command, like the other services, used gold braid sleeve stripes as rank insignia. When distinctive environmental uniforms were adopted in the mid-1980s, the army retained the green uniform with gold stripes. On 8 July 2013, Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay announced the intention to reintroduce a more traditional style Canadian Army officers' rank insignia. Instead of the sleeve stripe rank insignia used since unification, officers would use the older St Edward's Crown and Star of the Order of the Bath insignia, commonly called "pips and crowns". Gorget patches were also restored for officers of the rank of colonel or higher. The new insignia for officers, instead of using the current British rank insignia for brigadier (used in the Canadian Army until 1968), had the pre-1920 brigadier-general insignia (crossed sabre and baton) instead. On 2 April 2016, the
Commander of the Canadian Army Commander of the Canadian Army () is the title of the institutional head of the Canadian Army. This appointment also includes the title of Chief of the Army Staff () and is based at National Defence Headquarters (Canada), National Defence Headqua ...
announced that general officers would revert to the unification-era rank insignia worn between 1968 and 2013. This rank insignia is based on the shoulder board rank insignia of Royal Canadian Navy flag officers. The rank insignia of general officers now consists of a crown, crossed sabre and baton, and a series of maple leaves on shoulder straps. Additionally, general officers wear one broad gold band on each of the lower sleeves of the service dress tunic. On the centenary of the
Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...
, 9 April 2017, the Bath Star pip with motto was replaced by the "Vimy Star". It depicts a maple leaf and is surrounded by the motto . Commissioned officers of the household guard regiments (Governor General's Foot Guards, Canadian Grenadier Guards, and Governor General's Horse Guards), plus army personnel stationed to the seasonal Ceremonial Guard, use the Guards Star in place of the Vimy Star on their shoulder boards.


Timeline of changes


Evolution of Royal Canadian Air Force rank and insignia

Canadian Air Force ranks and insignia originally were taken from the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
practice. Upon unification, the Air Command used identical ranks and insignia as the Land Command. When Air-specific blue DEUs were introduced, the gold rank insignia were retained. In April 2015, the Royal Canadian Air Force adopted new rank insignia reminiscent of the pre-unification RCAF system. The new officer rank insignia uses pearl-grey-on-black rank stripes instead of gold.
Non-commissioned members A non-commissioned member (NCM), in the Canadian Armed Forces, is defined in the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces, Queen's Regulations and Orders as: "... any person, other than an officer (armed forces), officer, who is enroll ...
(NCMs) rank insignia is pearl grey instead of gold. The colour gold found elsewhere on the uniform was also changed to pearl-grey. The air force rank of private, formerly indicated by one chevron, became aviator (Fr: ''aviateur''), and is indicated by a horizontally-aligned two-bladed propeller. All other ranks titles remain as they were.


Timeline of changes


Mess dress

Contrary to the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
and the
Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...
,
mess dress Mess dress uniform is the most formal (or semi-formal wear, semi-formal, depending on the country) type of evening-wear uniform used by military personnel, Police officer, police personnel, and other uniformed services members. It frequently ...
uniform ranks for officers of the
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...
follow the naval pattern, without the executive curl. General officers do not wear shoulder straps with this order of dress.


See also

* Former ranks of the Canadian Forces * Historic Royal Canadian Air Force ranks (1924–1968) *
Ranks and insignia of NATO A Standardization agreement, NATO standard grade scale is used by the NATO and its partners for the purpose of comparing military ranks across the Member states of NATO, member nations militaries, as well as for a number of administrative tasks. ...
*
List of comparative military ranks This article is a list of various Sovereign state, nations' armed forces military rank, ranking designations. Comparisons are made between the different systems used by nations to categorize the hierarchy of an armed force compared to another. S ...
*
Comparative army officer ranks of the Americas Rank comparison chart of all armies and land forces of North and South American states. Officers See also * Comparative army officer ranks of Asia * Comparative army officer ranks of Europe *Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers Reference ...
* Uniforms of the Canadian Armed Forces * Cadets Canada Elemental Ranks


Notes


References


External links


Canadian Armed Forces ranks and appointment insignia
– official site with images of rank insignia for Navy, Army and Air Force. {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Forces Ranks And Insignia Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations Canadian Armed Forces
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...