Brigadier - Definition and Overview

Brigadier is a rank in the British military, Australian Army, New Zealand Army and several other Commonwealth armies ranking above Colonel and immediately below Major General . It was introduced in 1928 to replace the rank of Colonel Commandant that had briefly replaced the rank of Brigadier General in 1922.

A Brigadier is properly considered the most senior field rank and is therefore more a senior colonel rather than the lowest rank of general (much like a Commodore is to an Admiral in the navy). Until shortly after the Second World War it was only an acting rank conferred on colonels (as commodore was an acting rank conferred on naval captains) and not a substantive rank. It has been awarded the equivalent NATO status as a Brigadier General in the United States military, where it is a general officer rank.

The rank insignia is a crown placed over three stars (sometimes called "pips") arranged pyramidically with one directly over the other two.

In some branches of the French Army, brigadier is a rank equivalent to caporal (corporal).

See also

• Comparative military ranks
• British Army officer rank insignia

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