Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a military hierarchy. It incorporates the principles of exercising power and authority into the military chain of command—the succession of commanders superior to subordinates through which command is exercised. The military chain of command constructs an important component for organized collective action.
Modern Russian military ranks trace their roots to the Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. Most of the rank names were borrowed from existing German/Prussian, French, English, Dutch, and Polish ranks upon the formation of the Russian regular army in the late 17th century.
The South African National Defence Force's rank system is largely based on the British system, with the Air Force sharing the Army rank titles. Rank titles changed over time as did the insignia.
Army general was a rank of the Soviet Union which was first established in June 1940 as a high rank for Red Army generals, inferior only to the marshal of the Soviet Union. In the following 51 years the Soviet Union created 133 generals of the army, 32 of whom were later promoted to the rank of marshal of the Soviet Union. It is a direct counterpart of the Russian Federation's "Army general" rank.
Rank insignia in the French Army are worn on the sleeve or on shoulder marks of uniforms, and range up to the highest rank of Marshal of France, a state honour denoted with a seven-star insignia that was last conferred posthumously on Marie Pierre Koenig in 1984.
Army general is the second highest military rank in Russia, subordinate only to a marshal and superior to a colonel general. It is a direct counterpart of the Soviet Army General rank.
The Military ranks of Finland are the military insignia used by the Finnish Defence Forces. The ranks incorporates features from Swedish, German, and Russian armed forces. In addition, the system has some typically Finnish characteristics that are mostly due to the personnel structure of the Finnish Defence Forces. The ranks have official names in Finnish and Swedish languages and official English translations. The Swedish forms are used in all Swedish-languages communications in Finland, e.g. in Swedish-speaking units of Finnish Defence Force. The system of ranks in the Swedish Armed Forces is slightly different.
The military ranks of the Soviet Union were those introduced after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time the Imperial Russian Table of Ranks was abolished, as were the privileges of the pre-Soviet Russian nobility.
The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) uses a simplified ranking system for the three branches of Indonesian Army, Indonesian Navy and Indonesian Air Force. Most of the ranks are similar with differences for the rank titles of the high-ranking officers. Exception exists, however, in the ranks of the service members of the Indonesian Marine Corps. While Indonesian Marine Corps is a branch of the Navy, the rank titles of the Marine Corps are the same as those of the Army, but it still uses the Navy's style insignia.
Gorget patches are an insignia in the form of paired patches of cloth or metal on the collar of a uniform (gorget), used in the military and civil service in some countries. Collar tabs sign the military rank, the rank of civil service, the military unit, the office (department) or the branch of the armed forces and the arm of service.
In the German military, Waffenfarbe is a visual method that the armed forces use to distinguish between different corps or troop functions in its armed services. The Waffenfarbe itself can take the form of the color of the collar patch, of the piping (embellishment) around the shoulder boards or shoulder marks, or—for enlisted ranks—of the piping around the collar and the garrison cap (Schiffchen).
Major General (MajGen) (Swedish: generalmajor, genmj) is a two-star commissioned officer rank in the Swedish Army, Swedish Air Force and Swedish Amphibious Corps. Major general ranks immediately above brigadier general and below a lieutenant general. The rank is equivalent to rear admiral in the Swedish Navy.
The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.
Major General is a senior rank in the Sri Lanka Army, and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of major general. It is the second-highest active rank of the Sri Lanka Army while the Lieutenant General is the highest, and is considered to be equivalent to a two-star rank. A major general commands a division or the equivalent or performs staff duties in army headquarters.
The system of Vietnamese military ranks was originally introduced on 22 March 1946 by President Ho Chi Minh, originally based on the military ranks system of Japanese military. Reference designs to the military ranks system of the French military. In 1958, the Vietnam People's Army military ranks system was changed, and has no Marshal or General of the Army or Brigadier General. In contrast, the Colonel General, Senior Colonel or Senior Lieutenant in Vietnam at present do not exist in many countries.
Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and Generaloberst was a rank above full General, but below Generalfeldmarschall. The rank of colonel general also exists in the armed forces organized along the lines of the Soviet model, where it is comparable to that of a lieutenant general.
This article deals with the rank insignia of the Austro-Hungarian Army, as worn by the Austro-Hungarian Army after the reorganisation in 1867 until 1918.
Corps colours, or troop-function colours were traditionally worn in the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, from 1935 until 1945, to distinguish between several branches, special services, corps, rank groups and appointments of the ministerial area, general staff, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, down to the military branches Heer, SS, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The corps colour was part of the uniform piping, gorget patches, shoulder straps, arabesque and lampasse ornaments of general and flag officers. It was also part of the heraldic flags, colours, standards and guidons.
Between 1943 and 1955, the ranks and insignia of the Soviet Armed Forces were characterised by a number of changes, including the reintroduction of rank insignia badges and the adoption of a number of higher ranks.
Italian Army gorget patches are worn by all army personnel on the collars of the shirts and jackets of their service uniforms and formal uniforms. The gorget patches identify the arm, corps, or speciality within an arm or corps a soldier belongs to. Generals wear golden stars instead of a gorget patches, while army recruits wear silver stars until they are assigned to a unit after basic training. Originally made from colored cloth, respectively embroidered cloth for Granatieri, Carabinieri and general staff members, gorget patches have been made since 1973 from enamelled metal.
