Template:British Army Officer Ranks/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:British Army Officer Ranks.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This is a template for showing a table of the British Army Officer ranks and epaulettes. The table can be expanded on pages allowing for more information to be associated with the ranks. The basic table can be added to a page with

{{British Army Officer Rank}}

Parameters

Optional parameters

|Title= Applies a title to the top of the table.

Examples

Standard template

{{British Army Officer Ranks}}

NATO rank scale	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1		N/A
United Kingdom Epaulette rank insignia
Rank:^[1]	Field marshal^[i]	General^[ii]	Lieutenant-general^[ii]	Major-general^[ii]	Brigadier^[iii]	Colonel^[iii]	Lieutenant colonel^[iii]	Major^[iii]	Captain^[iii]	Lieutenant^[iii]	Second lieutenant^[iii]	Officer cadet^[iii]
Abbreviation:	FM	Gen	Lt Gen	Maj Gen	Brig	Col	Lt Col	Maj	Capt	Lt	2Lt	OCdt

^ The rank of Field Marshal has become an honorary rank; the last active officer to be promoted to the rank was in 1994.
^ ^a ^b ^c The sword points to the general officer's front when worn on the shoulders and to the officer's right shoulder (to the viewer's left, as shown) when worn as a front rank slide.^[2]
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The standard star design (colloquially known as a 'pip') is the Bath star, based on the star of a Knight Grand Cross Military Division of the Order of the Bath but with two of the star's three small crowns uppermost and without the motto of the Prince of Wales, Ich dien, underneath. Officers of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Royal Welsh wear a slightly different design known as the Eversleigh star which includes the motto. Officers of the Household Division and the Honourable Artillery Company wear stars based on those of the orders of the Garter, the Thistle and St Patrick.^[2] Buttons shown for all except general officers vary by regiment.

Titled template

{{British Army Officer Ranks|Title=Y}}

British Army officer rank insignia
NATO rank scale	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1		N/A
United Kingdom Epaulette rank insignia
Rank:^[1]	Field marshal^[i]	General^[ii]	Lieutenant-general^[ii]	Major-general^[ii]	Brigadier^[iii]	Colonel^[iii]	Lieutenant colonel^[iii]	Major^[iii]	Captain^[iii]	Lieutenant^[iii]	Second lieutenant^[iii]	Officer cadet^[iii]
Abbreviation:	FM	Gen	Lt Gen	Maj Gen	Brig	Col	Lt Col	Maj	Capt	Lt	2Lt	OCdt

^ The rank of Field Marshal has become an honorary rank; the last active officer to be promoted to the rank was in 1994.
^ ^a ^b ^c The sword points to the general officer's front when worn on the shoulders and to the officer's right shoulder (to the viewer's left, as shown) when worn as a front rank slide.^[2]
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The standard star design (colloquially known as a 'pip') is the Bath star, based on the star of a Knight Grand Cross Military Division of the Order of the Bath but with two of the star's three small crowns uppermost and without the motto of the Prince of Wales, Ich dien, underneath. Officers of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Royal Welsh wear a slightly different design known as the Eversleigh star which includes the motto. Officers of the Household Division and the Honourable Artillery Company wear stars based on those of the orders of the Garter, the Thistle and St Patrick.^[2] Buttons shown for all except general officers vary by regiment.

References

^ ^a ^b "Who we are: Rank Structure". Retrieved 7 July 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Army Dress Regulations (All Ranks)" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. January 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2025.

[2] The rank of Field Marshal has become an honorary rank; the last active officer to be promoted to the rank was in 1994.

[General_officers-4] The sword points to the general officer's front when worn on the shoulders and to the officer's right shoulder (to the viewer's left, as shown) when worn as a front rank slide.^[2]

[Field_and_junior_officers-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The standard star design (colloquially known as a 'pip') is the Bath star, based on the star of a Knight Grand Cross Military Division of the Order of the Bath but with two of the star's three small crowns uppermost and without the motto of the Prince of Wales, Ich dien, underneath. Officers of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Royal Welsh wear a slightly different design known as the Eversleigh star which includes the motto. Officers of the Household Division and the Honourable Artillery Company wear stars based on those of the orders of the Garter, the Thistle and St Patrick.^[2] Buttons shown for all except general officers vary by regiment.

[6] The rank of Field Marshal has become an honorary rank; the last active officer to be promoted to the rank was in 1994.

[General_officers-7] The sword points to the general officer's front when worn on the shoulders and to the officer's right shoulder (to the viewer's left, as shown) when worn as a front rank slide.^[2]

[Field_and_junior_officers-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The standard star design (colloquially known as a 'pip') is the Bath star, based on the star of a Knight Grand Cross Military Division of the Order of the Bath but with two of the star's three small crowns uppermost and without the motto of the Prince of Wales, Ich dien, underneath. Officers of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Royal Welsh wear a slightly different design known as the Eversleigh star which includes the motto. Officers of the Household Division and the Honourable Artillery Company wear stars based on those of the orders of the Garter, the Thistle and St Patrick.^[2] Buttons shown for all except general officers vary by regiment.

[ranks-1] "Who we are: Rank Structure". Retrieved 7 July 2020.

[Army_Dress_Regulations_-_ranks-3] "Army Dress Regulations (All Ranks)" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. January 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2025.

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