Royal Navy officer rank insignia

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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
United Kingdom (Edit)
United Kingdom (Edit)	Admiral of the Fleet¹	Admiral	Vice Admiral	Rear Admiral	Commodore	Captain	Commander	Lieutenant- Commander	Lieutenant	Sub- Lieutenant	Midshipman	Officer Cadet
Abbreviation	Adm of the Fleet	Adm	VAdm	RAdm	Cdre	Capt	Cdr	Lt Cdr	Lt	SLt or S/Lt	Mid	OC
¹ Rank in abeyance - appointments no longer made to this rank in peacetime.

Naval Service
Components
Royal Navy Surface Fleet Fleet Air Arm Submarine Service Royal Navy Regulating Branch Royal Naval Reserve Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service
Royal Marines (includes Royal Marines Reserve)
History
History of the Royal Navy
History of the Royal Marines
Future of the Royal Navy
Ships
Current Fleet
Current deployments
Historic ships
Personnel
The Admiralty
Senior Officers
Uniforms
Officer rank insignia
Ratings rank insignia
Related Civilian Agencies of the MOD
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service

1 Officers
2 Warrant Officers
3 Reserves
4 Wrens
5 See also

[edit] Officers

Uniforms for naval officers were not authorised until 1748. At first the cut and style of the uniform differed considerably between ranks and specific rank insignia only sporadically used.

Ranks could be indicated by embroidery on the cuffs, by arrangement of buttons or, after 1795, on epaulettes. However there was no consistent system and insignia might differ between uniforms, and were altered several times. Sometimes there was no specific indication of rank at all.

Midshipmen received a white patch on the collar in 1758, the oldest badge still in use today.

The modern system of gold stripes on the cuffs originated in 1856. For the first time these were consistently applied to all blue uniforms.

Admiral of the Fleet	1¾in below four ⅝in
Admiral	1¾in below three ⅝in
Vice Admiral	1¾in below two ⅝in
Rear Admiral and Commodore 1st Class	1¾in below one ⅝in
Commodore 2nd Class	four ½in
Captain	three ½in
Commander	two ½in
Lieutenant	one ½in

In 1863 the lower ranks were changed:

Commodore 2nd Class	1¾in
Captain	four ½in
Commander	three ½in
Lieutenant	two ½in
Sub-Lieutenant	one ½in

In 1877 a Lieutenant of 8 years seniority got an additional half-stripe of ³/₁₆-in, increased to ¼in in 1891.

In 1914 the rank of Lieutenant-Commander was created and given the insignia of the 8-year Lieutenant.

In 1919 the admirals' narrow stripe was reduced to ½in, but as King George V had not approved the change, the royal family continued to wear the wider stripe.

In 1931 all the ½in stripes were all increased to ⁹/₁₆in.

The curl was introduced in 1856, but initially only the military (or executive) and navigating (masters) branches wore it.

Other branches had plain stripes, from 1863 with coloured cloth between or below them. Until 1891 officers of the 'civil' branches had single breasted coats with different arrangements of buttons.

Engineering	Purple	2 groups of 4
Surgeons	Red	3 groups of 3
Pursers	White	4 groups of 2
Dentists	Orange
Instructors	Light Blue
Shipwrights	Silver Grey
Wardmaster (Medical assistants)	Maroon
Electrical	Dark Green
Ordnance	Dark Blue

Engineer officers received the curl in 1915 and all other officers in 1918. At the same time they also received other things such as oak leaves on the peaked cap that had formerly been the prerogative of the military branch.

Except for the medical branches, these distinctions were all abolished in 1955.

From 1955 to 1993 there was a rank of Acting Sub-Lieutenant, with the same rank insignia as a Sub-Lieutenant.

Naval pilots in the Fleet Air Arm (and earlier the Royal Naval Air Service) have wings above the curl. Other Fleet Air Arm officers had a letter 'A' inside the curl.

On dress uniforms rank badges could also be shown on epaulettes. The system changed several times, but after 1864 were as follows:

Admiral of the Fleet	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 4 stars
Admiral	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 3 stars
Vice-Admiral	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 2 stars
Rear-Admiral	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 1 (larger) star
Commodore 1st Class	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword
Commodore 2nd Class & Captain over 3 years	Crown, 2 stars and foul anchor
Captain under 3 years	Crown, 1 star and foul anchor
Commander	Crown and foul anchor
Lieutenant over 8 years, after 1914 Lieutenant-Commander	Star and foul anchor
Lieutenant under 8 years	Anchor

Sub-Lieutenants did not have epaulettes, but wore simple shoulders boards with anchors.

These stars have 8 points, quite unlike the Order of the Bath stars worn by army officers.^[1]

Instead of the foul anchor, navigating officers had 2 crossed plain anchors, and the civil branches an additional star.

In 1891 the Admiral of the Fleet changed to a crown above two crossed batons within a wreath, similar to the badge of a Field Marshal.

Also in 1891 shoulder-straps were introduced for use on white uniforms and on the greatcoat, and more recently in "shirt sleeve order". For these Commodores 1st Class and above use the same badge as on their epaulettes, Commodores 2nd Class and below use their rank stripes.

From 1926 only Commodores had 2 stars, other captains one.

Epaulettes were not worn after 1939.

In 2001^[2], the shoulder boards on dress uniforms were changed and are currently:

Admiral of the Fleet	Crown, 2 Crossed Batons within a wreath
Admiral	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 4 stars
Vice-Admiral	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 3 stars
Rear-Admiral	Crown, Crossed Baton & Sword and 2 stars

^ Order of the Bath stars worn by army officers have 4 points and are sometimes referred to as "pips".
^ Refer UK Defence Council Instruction (Joint Service) (DCI(JS)) 125/2001

[edit] Warrant Officers

Warrant Officers first received their uniforms in 1787. The navigators, surgeons and pursers were commissioned in 1843 and their insignia are described above.

In 1865 Chief (or Commissioned) Warrant Officers were given a single ½in stripe, with the curl for gunners and boatswains, without for carpenters.

In 1891 ordinary Warrant Officers of 10 years standing were given a half-stripe of ¼in, with or without curl as above.

In 1918 this stripe, with the curl, was extended to all non-commissioned Warrant Officers.

In 1949 WOs and CWOs became "Commissioned Branch Officers" and "Senior Commissioned Branch Officers" and were admitted to the wardroom, but their insignia remained the same.

In 1956 they were integrated into the line officers as Sub-Lieutenants and Lieutenants, and class distinctions finally disappeared from the uniform.

[edit] Reserves

From 1863 officers were commissioned in the Royal Naval Reserve. They had stripes each formed from two ¼-inch wavy lines intersecting each other. The curl was formed into a 6-pointed star. The Lt Cdr's half-stripe was straight, but only ⅛ inch wide. The commodore had a broad straight stripe, but the same star for a curl. Midshipmen had a blue collar patch.

Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (formed 1903) had single wavy stripes ¼ inch wide, with the curl a squarish shape. The Lt Cdr's narrow stripe was originally straight, but after 1942 was waved also. Midshipmen had a maroon collar patch.

In 1951 both reserves lost their distinctive insignia and got normal straight stripes like the regulars, but with a letter 'R' inside the curl. The 2 organisations were merged in 1958.

In 2007 Officers of the RNR removed the 'R' distinction from badges of rank.

[edit] Wrens

Officers in the Women's Royal Naval Service had straight stripes in light blue, with a diamond shape instead of the curl. The WRNS was abolished in 1994 and female officers now have the same uniform as the men.

v • d • e Commissioned Officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy	O Cdt	Mid	SLt		Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines			2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj-Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army	O Cdt		2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj-Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force	OC		APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	MRAF