Air Marshal - Definition and Overview

This article is about the Royal Air Force rank. Air Marshal is also the term given to the 'air police' who travel undercover aboard commercial airliners.

Air Marshal is the second most senior rank active in the Royal Air Force today, after the inactivation of Marshal of the Royal Air Force as a substantive rank in peacetime during defence cuts of the 1990s. It ranks above Air Vice Marshal and immediately below Air Chief Marshal.

It has a NATO ranking code of OF-8. Equivalent to a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy or a Lieutenant General in the British Army or the Royal Marines.

The rank insignia consists of two narrow light blue bands (each on a slightly wider black band) over a light blue band on a broad black band. This is worn on the both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform.

The command flag for an Air Marshal is defined by the single broad red band running in the center of the flag, like on the command flag for a Group Captain (though the latter flag is triangular in shape). This flag represents the highest achievable grade in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which uses the same command flag setup as the RAF.

See also

• Comparative military ranks

British commissioned officer ranks
	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:	OCdt	Mid	SLt	Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Admiral of the Fleet
Royal Marines:	OCdt		2Lt - Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army:	OCdt	OD	2Lt - Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	Field Marshal
Royal Air Force:	OCdt	OD	PO - FO	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	ACdre	AVM	AM	ACM	MRAF