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Admiral (Australia)

Rank of the Royal Australian Navy

Summary

Rank of the Royal Australian Navy

Field	Value
name	Admiral
image	Flag of Admiral - Royal Navy.svgborder
image_size	100px
caption	Admiral's command flag
image2	Australia-Navy-OF-9-collected.svg
image_size2	150
caption2	The ADML insignia
country	Australia
service branch	Royal Australian Navy
abbreviation	ADML
rank group	Flag officer
rank	Four-star
Non-NATO rank	OF-9
pay grade	O-10
formation
higher rank	Admiral of the fleet
lower rank	Vice admiral
equivalents

| Non-NATO rank = OF-9

Admiral (abbreviated as ADML) is the highest active rank of the Royal Australian Navy and was created as a direct equivalent of the British naval rank of admiral. It is a four-star rank. Since 1968, generally the only time the rank is held is when the Chief of the Defence Force is a navy officer.

Admiral is a higher rank than vice admiral, but is a lower rank than admiral of the fleet. Admiral is the equivalent of air chief marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force and general in the Australian Army.

Australian admirals

The following have held the rank of admiral in the Royal Australian Navy:

Name	Date promoted	Senior command(s) or appointment(s) in rank	Notes
		First Naval Member and Chief of Staff (1931–37)
		Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (1970–75)
		Chief of the Defence Force Staff (1979–82)
		Chief of Naval Staff (1985–91)	Promoted to admiral on the day of his retirement
		Chief of the Defence Force (1993–95)
		Chief of the Defence Force (1998–02)
		Chief of the Defence Force (2024–present)

Rank insignia and personal flag

The current ranks are rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and admiral of the fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known as flag officers, are entitled to fly a personal flag. An admiral of the fleet flies a national flag at the masthead, while an admiral flies a St George's cross (red cross on white). Vice admirals and rear admirals fly a St George's cross with one or two red discs in the hoist, respectively. These command flags are exactly the same as in the Royal Navy, except for the admiral of the fleet, who flies the Union Flag.

The rank of admiral itself is shown in its sleeve lace by a broad band with three narrower bands. Since the mid-1990s, the insignia of a Royal Australian Navy admiral is the Crown of St. Edward above a crossed sword and baton, above four silver stars, above the word AUSTRALIA. Note that unlike other Commonwealth countries, the sword is a naval cutlass, with a closed handle. The stars have eight points, like the Royal Navy insignia and unlike the four-pointed Order of the Bath stars used by the army.

Prior to 1995, the RAN shoulder board was identical to the UK shoulder board. The UK shoulder board changed in 2001.

Notes

References

(30 July 1936). "Naval Forces of the Commonwealth". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.
(7 January 1971). "Naval Forces of the Commonwealth". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.
"Admiral Sir Anthony Monckton Synnot". Royal Australian Navy.
"Admiral Michael Wyndham Hudson". Royal Australian Navy.
"Admiral Alan Lee Beaumont". Royal Australian Navy.
"Admiral Christopher Alexander Barrie". Royal Australian Navy.
Campbell, Angus. (10 July 2024). "Vice Chief of Defence handover". X.
"Uniform Ranks". [[Australian Government]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

military-ranks-of-australia royal-australian-navy naval-ranks

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