Canadian Armed 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 Queen of Canada, normally represented by the Governor General, is the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, (French: Commandant en chef des Forces armées canadiennes)^[1][2] who, in that capacity, may wear a Canadian Armed Forces uniform of any of the three elements.^[3][4] The rank insignia is a special sleeve braid embellished with the crest of the Royal arms of Canada and this same embroidered crest is worn on the shoulder straps.

NATO Code	Special
Canada
Canada
Canada

Commissioned Member rank insignia

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Canada (Edit)	No equivalent																														No equivalent
			Admiral		Vice-admiral		Rear-admiral		Commodore		Captain		Commander		Lieutenant-commander		Lieutenant		Sub-lieutenant			Acting sub-lieutenant			Naval cadet
			Amiral		Vice-amiral		Contre-amiral		Commodore		Capitaine de vaisseau		Capitaine de frégate		Capitaine de corvette		Lieutenant de vaisseau		Enseigne de vaisseau de 1re classe			Enseigne de vaisseau de 2e classe			Aspirant de marine
Canada (Edit)	No equivalent																														No equivalent
			General		Lieutenant-General		Major-General		Brigadier-General		Colonel		Lieutenant-Colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second Lieutenant			Officer cadet
			Général		Lieutenant-général		Major-général		Brigadier-général		Colonel		Lieutenant-colonel		Major		Capitaine		Lieutenant			Sous-lieutenant			Élève-officier
Canada (Edit)	No equivalent																														No equivalent
			General		Lieutenant General		Major-general		Brigadier-general		Colonel		Lieutenant Colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second Lieutenant			Officer Cadet
			Général		Lieutenant-général		Major-général		Brigadier-général		Colonel		Lieutenant-colonel		Major		Capitaine		Lieutenant			Sous-lieutenant			Élève-officier
NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer

Non-commissioned Member (NCM) rank insignia

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.

NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Canada (Edit)
	Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Premier maître de 1re classe						Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Premier maître de 2e classe		Petty Officer 1st Class Maître de 1re classe		Petty Officer 2nd Class Maître de 2e classe						Master Seaman Matelot-chef						Leading Seaman Matelot de 1re classe				Able Seaman Matelot de 2e classe		Ordinary Seaman (Basic) Matelot de 3e classe (Confirmé)						Ordinary Seaman (Recruit) Matelot de 3e classe (Recrue)
Canada (Edit)
	Chief Warrant Officer Adjudant-chef						Master Warrant Officer Adjudant-maître		Warrant Officer Adjudant		Sergeant Sergent						Master Corporal Caporal-chef						Corporal Caporal				Private (Trained) Soldat (Formé)		Private (Basic) Soldat (Confirmé)						Private (Recruit) Soldat (Recrue)
Canada (Edit)
	Chief Warrant Officer						Master Warrant Officer		Warrant Officer		Sergeant						Master Corporal						Corporal				Aviator (Trained)		Aviator (Basic)						Aviator (Recruit)
	Adjudant-chef						Adjudant-maître		Adjudant		Sergent						Caporal-chef						Caporal				Aviateur (Formé)		Aviateur (Confirmé)						Aviateur (Recrue)
NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1

Senior Appointments

NATO Code	OR-9
Canada
	Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer	Command Chief Petty Officer 1st class	Senior Appointment Chief Petty Officer 1st class
	Adjudant-chef des Forces canadiennes	Premier Maître de 1re classe du Commandement	Premier maître de 1re classe
Canada
	Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer	Command Chief Warrant Officer	Senior Appointment Chief Warrant Officer
	Adjudant-chef des Forces canadiennes	Adjudant-chef du Commandement	Adjudant-chef- nomination supérieure
Canada
	Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer	Command Chief Warrant Officer	Senior Appointment Chief Warrant Officer
	Adjudant-chef des Forces canadiennes	Adjudant-chef du Commandement	Adjudant-chef- nomination supérieure

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.^[5][6] 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, 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 nations. 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.

Distinctive rank names

Some branches and regiments use distinctive rank names in place of master corporal, corporal and private:

In the guard regiments, warrant officers are known as "colour sergeants" and second lieutenants are known as "ensigns".

LCdr (medical)'s sleeve variant

Except for those who acquired the Canadian Forces mess dress after 1968 to 2010, naval officers have always worn the Royal Navy-style executive curl rank insignia on mess uniforms (see Royal Navy officer rank insignia). The colour designations for specialist officers are not used except for naval medical officers who may use a variant of the standard rank slip-ons and shoulder boards incorporating a scarlet red background between the gold braid of their rank insignia and naval medical service officers (nursing officers, pharmacy officers, health care administration officers, social work officers, physiotherapy officers, and bioscience officers) who have shoulder boards incorporating a dull cherry red background between the strips of their rank.

Reinstatement of Royal Canadian Navy rank and insignia

When the Canadian Navy was established in 1910 it was natural to adopt the same straight rings with the executive curl for the permanent navy that was designated as the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in August 1911 and subsequently the "wavy" shaped rings for the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) and the 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, 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 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 rank insignia has been in continuous use in the Royal Canadian Navy, but from 1968 to 2010 it appeared only on navy mess dress.

On 5 March 2010, the Canadian House of Commons passed a motion (moved by Guy Lauzon^[7]) 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.^[8][9]

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 substitute a star or other national device above the top row of lace such as the United States Navy and the French Navy.

Timeline of changes (sleeves only)

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Maritime Command (1968 - 2010)	No Equivalent																								No Equivalent
Royal Canadian Navy (Present)
Rank titles			Admiral		Vice-admiral		Rear-admiral		Commodore		Captain(N)		Commander		Lieutenant-commander		Lieutenant(N)		Sub-lieutenant			Acting sub-lieutenant									Naval cadet
			Amiral		Vice-amiral		Contre-amiral		Commodore		Capitaine de vaisseau		Capitaine de frégate		Capitaine de corvette		Lieutenant de vaisseau		Enseigne de vaisseau de 1re classe			Enseigne de vaisseau de 2e classe									Aspirant de marine

Reinstatement of Canadian Army ranks and insignia

On the centenary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (9 April 2017), the Bath Star was replaced by the "Vimy Star". It depicts a maple leaf and is surrounded by the Latin motto vigilamus pro te ("we stand on guard for thee").

The Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay, announced on 8 July 2013 their intention to restore the traditional rank names for all Canadian Army non-commissioned members, as well as the reintroduction of Canadian Army officers' rank insignia.^[10] Instead of the navy-style rank insignia, Canadian Army officers once again use the traditional St Edward's Crown and Star of the Order of the Bath insignia, commonly called "pips and crowns", a system which is more than one hundred years old.^[11] The traditional gorget patches were also restored for officers of the rank of colonel or higher.^[12] The re-introduction of Canadian Army rank insignia was expected to save the Canadian Armed Forces $53,550 per year, but with an initial outlay of $245,000, savings are not expected to be realized until after the first five years.^[13] The reasons behind the return to the traditional Canadian Army ranks and insignia were explained by the minister of national defence as strengthening Canadian Army identity as "our officers who accepted the (German) surrender, were wearing pips and Crowns. This in no way diminishes Canada's identity, and I would suggest we are returning to the insignia that was so much a part of what the Canadian Army accomplished in Canada's name".^[14] The reinstated 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.

Supported by a new Liberal government, on April 2, 2016, the Commander of the Canadian Army announced that the army was abandoning the traditional rank insignia for general officers announced in 2013 and instituted in 2014 and 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, which in turn is derived from the shoulder board rank insignia of Royal 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 along with one broad naval-style gold band on each of the lower sleeves of the service dress tunic.^[15] World War 2 colours backing were also reinstated in order to represent the arm of service for officers on their cloth slip-ons.^[16]

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 seasional Ceremonial Guard, use the Guards Star in place of the Vimy Star on their shoulder boards.

Unit	Colour
Flag Officers Generals Logistic Branch Military Police Branch Public Affairs Branch Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery	Red
The Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers	Blue
Infantry units (except Rifle Regiments)	Scarlet
Royal Canadian Armoured Corps	Cavalry gold
Royal Canadian Medical Service	Dull cherry
Royal Canadian Dental Corps	Emerald Green
Intelligence Branch	Silver
Royal Canadian Chaplain Service	Purple

Timeline of changes

NATO Code	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1		OF(D)	Student Officer
Mobile Command & Land Force Command (1968 - 2013)	No Equivalent											No Equivalent
Canadian Army (2013 - 2016)
Canadian Army (2016-2017)
Canadian Army (Present)
Rank titles		General	Lieutenant-General	Major-General	Brigadier-General	Colonel	Lieutenant-Colonel	Major	Captain	Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant		Officer Cadet
		Général	Lieutenant-général	Major-général	Brigadier-général	Colonel	Lieutenant-colonel	Major	Capitaine	Lieutenant	Sous-lieutenant		Élève-officier

Reinstatement of Royal Canadian Air Force rank and insignia

In April 2015,^[17] 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 (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.^[18]

Timeline of changes

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Air Command (1968 - 2010)	No Equivalent																								No Equivalent
Royal Canadian Air Force (Present)
Rank titles			General		Lieutenant General		Major-general		Brigadier-general		Colonel		Lieutenant Colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second lieutenant									Officer Cadet
			Général		Lieutenant-général		Major-général		Brigadier-général		Colonel		Lieutenant-colonel		Major		Capitaine		Lieutenant			Sous-lieutenant									Élève-Officier

See also

• Former ranks of the Canadian Forces
• Historic Royal Canadian Air Force ranks (1924–1968)
• Ranks and insignia of NATO
• List of comparative military ranks
• Comparative army officer ranks of the Americas
• Uniforms of the Canadian Armed Forces
• Cadets Canada Elemental Ranks

References

External links

• Canadian Armed Forces ranks and appointment insignia – official site with images of rank insignia for Navy, Army and Air Force.