User:Cdjp1/sandbox/Canada

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-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces (French: Commandant en chef des Forces armées canadiennes) 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.

The rank insignia for the Commander-in-Chief.

Officer rank insignia
The rank insignia for commissioned officers for the navy, army and air force respectively.

Non-commissioned member (NCM) rank insignia
The rank insignia for non-commissioned members for the navy, army and air force respectively. 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, as they are not yet updated in the Queen's Regulations and Orders issued by the Governor-in-Council.

Senior NCM appointments
The rank insignia for Senior 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, 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.

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.

Distinctive rank names
Some branches and regiments use distinctive job titles for privates in those regiments:

Additionally, the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery uses "bombardier" for corporals and "master bombardier" for master corporal. In the guard regiments, warrant officers are known as "colour sergeants" and second lieutenants are known as "ensigns".

Except for those who acquired the Canadian Forces mess dress between 1968 and 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 ) 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 substitute a star or other national device above the top row of lace such as the United States Navy and the French Navy.

Reinstatement of Canadian Army ranks and insignia
The Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay, announced on 8 July 2013 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". The traditional gorget patches were also restored for officers of the rank of colonel or higher. 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.

On 2 April 2016, the Commander of the Canadian Army 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, 9 April 2017, the Bath Star pip 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"). 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.

Reinstatement of Royal Canadian Air Force rank and insignia
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 (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.

Mess Dress
Contrary to the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army, mess dress uniform ranks for officers of the Royal Canadian Air Force follow the naval pattern, without the executive curl. General officers do not wear shoulder straps with this order of dress.

Relative ranks and responsibilities
The ranks of the new Canadian Armed Forces did not match up exactly with the ranks (and attendant responsibilities) of the old system.

In the army, for example, an infantry platoon would have a sergeant for a second in command and a staff sergeant would serve as a company quartermaster sergeant. In the new Canadian Forces, however, a warrant officer would fill both those roles. While an infantry section was commanded by a corporal pre-unification, after unification that task fell on a sergeant. The rank of corporal in the army was especially downgraded in terms of responsibility; before unification a Canadian corporal was the equivalent of a sergeant in most other armies due to his responsibility as a section commander. After unification, the rank of corporal became nothing more than a pay raise with authority being granted instead to the new master corporals. Equivalents in the table below are very approximate, then.

Certain ranks have alternative titles according to tradition and the trade of the soldier.
 * The rank of Private (trained) uses the following names (note that all privates prior to receiving their trade qualifications are called privates)
 * Royal Canadian Armoured Corps – trooper
 * Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery – gunner
 * Royal Canadian Engineers – sapper
 * Royal Canadian Corps of Signals - signaller
 * Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
 * Guards regiments – guardsman
 * Rifle regiments – rifleman
 * Fusilier regiments – fusilier
 * Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers – craftsman
 * Royal Canadian Air Force - aviator


 * Lance corporals
 * Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery – lance bombardier


 * Corporals
 * Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery – bombardier


 * Master corporals
 * Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery – master bombardier

Pre-unification RCN
The RCN used the rank and insignia of the RN.

Pre-unification army
Army officers' insignia before unification consisted of several rank badges based on British Army designs:


 * The star of the Order of the Bath, commonly called a "pip", in sequence of one, two or three as necessary.
 * The crown (the Tudor Crown from 1902 to 1953, the St. Edward's Crown from 1953 to the present).
 * The Mameluke sword, crossed by a baton, was used in general officer's insignia.

Army warrant officers also used rank badges based on British designs:


 * A warrant officer class I wore the coat of arms of Canada; before the 1950s, the British royal coat of arms was worn.
 * A warrant officer class II wore a crown (either St. Edward's pattern or Tudor pattern, as described under officers' insignia above) within a wreath.
 * During the Second World War, a warrant officer class III had worn a plain crown; this rank was abolished in practice during, and officially after, the war.

Finally, Army NCOs also used rank badges based on British designs:


 * Rank badges were constructed from white herringbone lace sewn into 1-, 2-, or 3-bar chevrons. A crown was worn over the chevrons for staff sergeants.

Pre-unification RCAF
The RCAF used the rank and insignia of the RAF.

Unified Canadian Forces
A series of gold stripes was instituted, similar to the pre-unification naval and air force rank system in concept but very different in appearance. Warrant officers retained the traditional army-style rank badges, and NCOs' chevrons were also changed, being smaller and made from newer material. The maple leaf also featured on NCO badges, even being worn over a private's one-bar chevron in initial issues of the new insignia in the years immediately after unification. The nickname for this short-lived rank was Trade Corporal.

Generals' and admirals' insignia remained similar to pre-unification army insignia, with maple leaves replacing the stars, but retaining the crown and crossed sabre and baton. A wide band of gold braid was also used, similar to pre-unification naval insignia worn by admirals. Naval officers of flag rank removed the rank epaulettes on the service dress on June 11, 2010, when the executive curl was reinstated with additional sleeve ribbon for the admiral ranks.

Changes: Navy
Naval rank titles remained for the personnel of the new Maritime Command. On the Canadian Forces service uniform, the rank insignia of officers up to the rank of naval Captain followed the old Royal Canadian Navy pattern but with the executive curl deleted. However, the executive curl was permitted on naval mess dress for all naval officers. In 1985 a new naval service uniform was announced and was introduced into service over the following three years.

Changes: Army
While the insignia for non-commissioned personnel of the CF very closely matched that of the pre-unification army, there were some changes and new classes of ranks were created. The army had previously had general officers, officers, warrant officers, senior NCOs, junior NCOs, and men. All personnel that were not officers were referred to collectively as "other ranks". After unification, in mid 1980’s other ranks became known as non-commissioned members (NCMs). The category of senior NCOs now included only one rank – that of sergeant – whereas before it had included both staff sergeants and sergeants. There were also three grades of warrant officer, whereas immediately before unification there had been only two.

The appointments of lance corporal and lance sergeant were deleted. Originally, there were only privates and corporals below the rank of sergeant. Those corporals with leadership training came to be referred to as "B" corporals (for having completed Part B of the leadership training) and started to wear a crown over their two chevrons. Eventually the crown was changed to a maple leaf surmounting the chevrons, and the appointment of master corporal was created after much hostility and confusion within the ranks regarding who would be providing leadership at the lowest levels of Mobile Command (the new name for what used to be the Army).

Changes: Air Force
The distinctive air force rank titles were eliminated, and Air Command used the same rank titles as Mobile Command.

Post-unification Canadian Forces
On June 11, 2010 the executive curl was reinstated for use by all naval officers, but the rank of midshipman was not reinstated, and the rank of naval cadet stayed on. The rank insignia for non-commissioned members continued to be based on army pattern insignia.

On 8 July 2013 the Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay, announced that Canadian Army officers would once again wear "pips and crowns", signalling a return to the pre-unification rank insignia. The final product was a return to the rank insignia used before 1920 by the army, with the reinstatement of the brigadier-general insignia of crossed sabre and baton.

Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, announced on 8 July 2013 the Government of Canada's intent to restore Canadian Army rank insignia, names and badges to their traditional forms. The first stage was to be done before the end of the year for the officer corps, and resulted to a return to the pre-1968 rank insignia, but brigadier generals instead had the pre-1920 insignia (and not the 1928–66 insignia for brigadiers) reinstated. All other army officers had by November 11, 2014, insignia based on the old pre-1968 pattern. In 2016, the Canadian Army ordered that general officer rank insignia would be modified to a version of the insignia worn under the unification era, except that it would conform to the traditional Canadian Army style in using the same metal pin-on ranks as other Canadian Army officers instead of the slightly different cloth badging worn under unification.

In 2015 the rank of private was changed to aviator within the Royal Canadian Air Force. The RCAF insignia were also changed from gold to the grey/silver colouring that existed prior to unification. As this restoration aimed at carrying on the traditions of the RCAF, and also of the First World War–era Royal Flying Corps (and other CAF air branches), it did not signify a wholesale reversion to the post–Second World War–era RCAF ranks.

On April 1, 2016, the Canadian Army announced that it would use the maple leaf ranks for generals as well as reinstating gold sleeve braids on generals' tunic cuffs. The insignia, however, will use metal pin-ons instead of the unification cloth badges. To honour the centennial of the Battle of Vimy Ridge on 1 April 2017, the Vimy Star, composed of a red maple leaf within a gold diamond and surrounded by the army's Latin motto vigilamus pro te ("we stand on guard for thee", from the English lyrics of "O Canada"), replaced the Bath Star in officer shoulder boards.