Ranks in the French Army

• Général d'armée ("army general"); in command of an army.
• Général de corps d'armée ("corps general", i.e. Lieutenant general); in command of an army corps.[note 1]
• Général de division ("division general", i.e. Major general); in command of a division.
• Général de brigade ("brigade general", i.e. Brigadier general); in command of a brigade, or of a région in the Gendarmerie. A famous général de brigade was Charles de Gaulle, who often wore military uniform whilst being President of the French Republic.

There is no distinction between infantry and cavalry generals, since they are all supposed to be able to command any type of unit. The rank was formerly designated as Lieutenant-General of the Armies until 1791. The official historic succession of the "Lieutenant-General of France" corresponded to Général de division for the French Army, and Vice-Amiral (Vice-Admiral) for the French Navy. The rank of Général de corps d'armée wasn't officially adopted until 1939, along with five other French Armed Forces ranks.

In the below descriptions, "horse-mounted" does not refer to current units (the only remaining horse-mounted unit is a ceremonial unit in the Republican Guard) but to the traditional affiliation of the units.

The word colonel originates in the medieval term capitaine colonel, "the head (officer) of a column" (=regiment). Lieutenant-colonel is the one who can "hold the place" of a colonel in his absence (lieu-tenant, from tenir lieu which means to hold the place). The word chef or "chief" in English comes from the Latin word caput meaning "head".

A colonel commands a regiment of the army or a groupement of the Gendarmerie. During the French Revolution, they were called chef de brigade. Cavalry arms wear silver. The origin of the difference in metal colour is that infantry officers once wore silver epaulettes, while those of the cavalry and other arms wore gold, and the colour of the rank badge had to differ from these metals in each case.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

The lieutenant-colonel has the same responsibilities as a colonel. They were called major during the First French Empire. Notice that the metal colours alternate silver and gold in each case, as opposed to those of the colonels. This characteristic goes back at least to alternating stripes on the uniforms of that empire in epaulettes.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

Commandant (also called chef de bataillon in the infantry, chef d'escadrons in the cavalry and chef d'escadron in the artillery and in the army light aviation) is equivalent to a major in most English-speaking countries.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

A capitaine is in command of a company (compagnie) of infantry, a squadron (escadron) of cavalry or a battery (batterie) of artillery.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

A lieutenant (lieutenant or first lieutenant) commands a platoon (section) of infantry, a troop (peloton) of cavalry, or a brigade of the Gendarmerie.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

A Sous-lieutenant (sub-lieutenant or second lieutenant) commands at the same level as a lieutenant, but is a more junior officer rank.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

• Aspirant An Officer Designate rank, it is used in the Armée de Terre (Army), the Armée de l'Air (Air Force), the Marine Nationale (Navy) and the Gendarmerie Nationale. Technically it is not a commissioned rank but it is still treated in all respects as one. Aspirants are either officers in training in military academies or voluntaries, serving as temporary officers. The aspirant must have been previously élève officier (Officer Cadet). S/He can afterwards be commissioned as a sous-lieutenant or enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe. The insignia is a single curl of gold lace, disrupted by "flashes" of wool. It was widely used during both World Wars for providing young educated people with an officer's authority.

• 
  Infantry
• 
  Cavalry

• Eleve officier ("officer cadet"); a rank held during the first years at the officer academies (École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, École militaire interarmes or École des Officiers de la Gendarmerie Nationale)

• Major, the senior sub-officer rank since 1 January 2009 this grade is attached to the sous-officiers. Prior to this date it was an independent corps between the sous-officiers and the officiers. There are several Majors across the board of the French Armed Forces including the French Army, French Navy and French Air Force, typically at least one per regiment and several in a brigade.
  • 

Note the difference with many army rank systems of other countries where the term major is used for a rank above that of captain. For example, the rank of "major" in the US Army or British army is equivalent to the rank of "commandant" in the French army.

• Adjudant-chef: "Chief Adjutant" or Chief Warrant Officer; often same responsibilities as the lieutenant.
  • adjudant-chef (infantry arms)
  • adjudant-chef (cavalry and transportation arms)
• Adjudant: Adjutant or Warrant Officer; often same responsibilities as an adjudant-chef.
  • 
  • 
• Sergeant-Major in France: Sergent-Major was a rank created in 1776 and was formally abolished in 1971, when it was renamed Sergent-Chef in 1928. The rank of Sergent-Major was not attributed since 1976, and was in between the ranks of Sergent-Chef and Adjudant. The last of Sergent-Major went on retirement in 1985.
• Sergent-Chef (infantry) or maréchal des logis-chef (cavalry), addressed as "chef". Typically a platoon second-in-command (equivalent to a Commonwealth sergeant or a US sergeant first class).
  • Sergent-chef: Chief sergeant
  • Maréchal des logis-chef: Chief marshal of lodgings
• Sergent (infantry) or maréchal-des-logis (cavalry): Typically in command of a "group" (i.e. squad; equivalent to a commonwealth corporal or US staff sergeant)
  • Sergent: Sergeant
  • Maréchal des logis: Marshal of lodgings
• Élève sous-officier NCO candidates at the ENSOA.
  • 

Etymologically the adjudant is the adjoint ("joint (assistant)") of an officer, and the sergeant "serves" (Latin: serviens = English: servant).

Aspirants are cadet officers still in training. Sous-lieutenants are junior officers and are often aided by adjudants or adjudants-chefs, who are experienced NCOs/warrant officers.

Full lieutenants are experienced junior officers, served by sergeants when commanding their unit.

A four chevron sergent-chef-major rank existed until 1947. It was a ceremonial rank usually given to the most senior or experienced NCO in a unit, similar to a colour sergeant in the British Army. It was discontinued in the post-war army due to its redundancy.

Junior enlisted grades have different cloth stripe and beret colour depending on the service they are assigned to. Troupes métropolitaines ("from the French mainland") units wear blue, Troupes de marine (the former troupes coloniales) wear red, and the Légion Étrangère (Foreign Legion) units wear green.

A red beret indicates a paratrooper, whether from the "troupes de marine" or not. A legionnaire paratrooper wears a green beret with the general parachutist badge on it, the same badge used by all French Army paratroopers who completed their training.

Senior grades' lace stripe metal depends on their arm of service, just like the officiers. Infantry and support units wear gold stripes and cavalry and technical services units wear silver stripes.

• Caporal-chef de première classe. Distinction created in 1999.
• Caporal-chef (infantry) or Brigadier-chef (cavalry): in command of an équipe (literally a team). Presently this size unit is a trinôme in the army.
• Caporal (infantry) or brigadier (cavalry) : in command of an équipe.
• Soldat de première classe. This is a distinction rather than a rank.
• Soldat de deuxième classe: No rank insignia. Depending on the arm, they are called
  • Fantassin (infantry)
  • Légionnaire (French Foreign Legion)
  • Artilleur (artillery)
  • Sapeur (engineering, including the Paris Fire Brigade)
  • Chasseur ("hunter": light troops used for reconnaissance and harassment)
    • Chasseurs à pied (light infantry)
    • Chasseurs à cheval (light mounted infantry)
    • Chasseurs alpins (light alpine infantry)
    • Chasseurs parachutistes (airborne infantry commandos)
  • Dragon (dragoon: mounted infantry unit)
  • Cuirassier (heavy cavalry unit)
  • Hussard (light cavalry unit)
  • Transmetteur (signals corps)
  • Conducteur (trains)
  • Marsouin (literally "porpoise"; marines or naval infantry)
• Slang
  • Bigor (artillerie de la marine; see Troupes de marine): A term either from the gunner's order to fire (Bigue de hors) or a term for a species of winkle (bigorneau) because they would stick to their emplacements and couldn't be removed easily.
  • Colo (French Colonial Forces): The former term for the troupes de la marine when they were colonial troops.
  • Para (troupes aéroportées): Airborne troops, short for "parachutist".
  • Gazier (troupes aéroportées): Airborne troops "grunt". Friendly nickname.
  • Poilu (infanterie): "Hairy one". A term that appeared during the First Empire and used to refer to the French soldiers as they often wore a beard and/or a moustache—and were represented that way on memorials. Nowadays, this term is used to refer to French soldiers who fought in the trenches of WW1, though it is seldom used to refer to WW2 soldiers. It is synonym of bravery and endurance.
  • Biffin slang used by troupes de marine and fusiliers marins to designate other infantry units. Probably comes from the fact that marsouins and naval riflemen used to own their uniform and were proud of it, whereas other units were dressed in rags (biffe is an old French word for rag). This word is not used to designate a legionnaire.

There are also distinctions to distinguish volunteers and conscripts, and bars for experience (one for five years, up to four can be obtained).