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General (United Kingdom)

Highest military rank of the British Army

Summary

Highest military rank of the British Army

Field	Value
name	General
image
caption	Army and Royal Marines insignia
country	United Kingdom
service branch
abbreviation	Gen
rank group	General officer
rank	Four-star rank
NATO rank	OF-9
higher rank
lower rank	Lieutenant-general
equivalents

| Non-NATO rank =

General (or full general to distinguish it from the lower general officer ranks) is the highest rank achievable by serving officers of the British Army and the Royal Marines. The rank can also be held by Royal Marines officers in tri-service posts, for example, Generals Sir Gordon Messenger and Sir Gwyn Jenkins, former Vice-Chiefs of the Defence Staff. It ranks above lieutenant-general and, in the Army, is subordinate to the rank of field marshal, which is now awarded as an honorary rank only. The rank of general has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank. It is equivalent to a full admiral in the Royal Navy or an air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force.

Officers holding the ranks of general, lieutenant-general and major-general are 'general officers' and may be addressed as 'general'.

Insignia

A general officer's insignia is a crossed sword and baton. This appeared on its own for the now obsolete rank of brigadier-general. A major-general has a pip over this emblem; a lieutenant-general a crown instead of a pip; and a full general both a pip and a crown. The insignia for the highest rank, that of Field Marshal, consists of crossed batons within a wreath and surmounted by a crown.

References

"Ranks - British Army Website".
. (May 2019). ["The Queen's Regulations for the Army 1975"](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d5aaa46e5274a07640aefc7/The_Queen_s_Regulations_for_the_Army_1975.pdf). *Ministry of Defence*.
. (January 2011). ["Army Dress Regulations (All Ranks)"](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8236df40f0b62305b93169/2017-03109.pdf#page=982). *Ministry of Defence*.

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.

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