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Ranks in the French Army
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Rank insignia in the French army, depends on whether the soldier belongs to a "foot arm" or a "horse arm". All arms are designated either a foot or horse arm. In foot arms the main insignia colour is gold, but in horse arms the main insignia colour is silver/white. However, the artillery uses gold as the main colour, despite being a horse arm, and the spahis use gold as the main colour despite being part of a horse arm, the armoured cavalry arm.
The ranks in the Armée de Terre :
e title of Maréchal de France is awarded as a distinction, rather than a rank.
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Rank insignia in the French army, depends on whether the soldier belongs to a "foot arm" or a "horse arm". All arms are designated either a foot or horse arm. In foot arms the main insignia colour is gold, but in horse arms the main insignia colour is silver/white. However, the artillery uses gold as the main colour, despite being a horse arm, and the spahis use gold as the main colour despite being part of a horse arm, the armoured cavalry arm.
- Foot arms: Infantry, Naval troops, Foreign Legion, Engineering, etc.
- Horse arms: Armoured Cavalry arm, Train, Artillery, etc.
The ranks in the Armée de Terre :
Marshals
The title of Maréchal de France is awarded as a distinction, rather than a rank. The marshals wear seven stars and a baton.
Famous examples include Turenne, Vauban, Joachim Murat, Michel Ney, Bazaine, Guillaume Brune, Louis Nicolas Davout, André Masséna, Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Marie Pierre Koenig and Alphonse Juin.
An infamous example would be Philippe Pétain, who became famous as Maréchal Pétain, Chief of State of the Vichy France puppet regime and retained his title even after his trial and imprisonment and after he was stripped of other positions and titles.
Another particular example is Marshal de MacMahon, who ruled the Third Republic from 1875 to 1879.
Six Marshals of France have been given the even more exalted rank of Marshal General of France: Biron, Lesdiguières, Turenne, Villars, Saxe and Soult.
Officers
Officers are divided into
- the regular officers of the Army
- the commissary of the Army
- the officers of the technical and administrative corps of the Army.
They all wear the same insignia and titles.
Généraux - General officers
- Général d'armée: Army General: In command of an army. This is not a genuine rank, but an appointment of Divisional General.
- Général de corps d'armée: Corps General: In command of an army corps. This is not a genuine rank, but an appointment of Divisional General.
- Général de brigade: Brigade General : in command of a brigade, or of a légion in the Gendarmerie. A famous Général de brigade was Charles de Gaulle, who often wore military uniform whilst President of the French Republic.
The title "général" originates in the ancient rank of "capitaine général" (literally, "general captain"), who was in command of the whole army.
There is no distinction between infantry and cavalry generals, since they are all supposed to be able to command any type of unit.
Officiers supérieurs - Senior officers
In the below descriptions, "horse-mounted" does not refer to current units (the only remaining horse-mounted unit is a ceremonial unit in the Republican Guard) but to some traditional affiliation of the units.
Colonel
The word "colonel" originates in the title capitaine colonel, "the one who commands a column (regiment). Lieutenant-colonel is the one who can "take the place" of a colonel (lieu-tenant, tenir lieu = to take the place of). Chef, "chief", comes from Latin caput="head".
Colonel : in command of a regiment or a groupement (in the Gendarmerie). During the French Revolution, they were called "chef de brigade". Mounted arms wear silver. The origin of the difference in metal colour is that infantry officers once wore silver epaulettes, while those of the cavalry and other arms wore gold, and the colour of the rank badge had to differ from these metals in each case.
Lieutenant-Colonel
The Lieutenant-colonel has the same responsibilities as a colonel. They were called "major" during the First French Empire. Notice that the metal colours alternate silver and gold in each case, as opposed to those of the colonels. This characteristic goes back at least to alternating stripes on the headdress of that empire.
Commandant
Commandant: also called chef de bataillon in the infantry, chef d'escadrons in the cavalry and chef d'escadron in the artillery.
Officiers subalternes - Junior officers
Capitaine
A Capitaine is in command of a company (infantry), a squadron (cavalry) or a battery (artillery)
Lieutenant
A Lieutenant (Lieutenant or First Lieutenant): in command of a section (infantry) -a platoon in the US Army-, a peloton (cavalry) -a troop in the US Army- or a brigade (gendarmerie)
Sous-Lieutenant
Sous-lieutenant (Sub-Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant): same prerogatives as the lieutenant
Aspirant
- Aspirant : Acting Officer or Officer Candidate.
Sous-officiers - Non Commissioned Officers
- A Major is equivalent to the rank of Sergeant Major in the US, UK , Canada, etc. Since 01/01/2009 this grade is attached to the Sous-officiers. Prior to this date it was an independant corps between the Sous-officiers and the officiers. There are relatively few Major in the Army, about one per regiment or brigade. As they could hold equivalent administrative tasks as officiers they are more common in the Armée de l'Air.
Note the difference with English ranking systems, where "Majors" rank as commandants.
- Adjudant-chef : often same responsibilities as the lieutenant. In the horse-mounted arms (armes a cheval: cavalry and transportation), they are addressed as "lieutenant", otherwise addressed as "adjudant"
- adjudant-chef (des armes à pied)
- adjudant-chef
- Adjudant : often same responsibilities as a lieutenant and acting commonly as executive platoon leader in the infantry.
- Sergent-chef (infantry) or Maréchal des logis-chef (cavalry), addressed as "chef", in command of a groupe -a squad in the US Army-
- Sergent-chef : Chief Sergeant
- Maréchal des logis-chef : Chief Marshal of Lodgings
- Sergent (infantry) or Maréchal des logis (cavalry) : in command of a groupe -a squad in the US Army-
- Eleve Sous-Officier NCO candidats at the ENSOA.
The adjudant is the adjoint ("aid") of an officer, and the sergeant "serves" (Latin serviens).
Aspirants or sous-lieutenants are junior officers and are often aided by adjudants or adjudants-chefs, who are experienced NCOs/warrant officers.
Full lieutenant are experienced junior officers, served by sergeants when commanding their unit.
A four chevron sergent-chef major existed up till 1947.
Militaires du rang - Enlisted
- Caporal-chef de première classe. Distinction created in 1999.
- Caporal-chef (infantry) or Brigadier-chef (cavalry) : in command of an équipe (litteraly a team). Presently this size unit is a trinôme in the Army.
- Caporal (infantry) or Brigadier (cavalry) : in command of an équipe.
- Soldat de première classe. This is a distinction rather than a rank.
- Soldat de deuxième classe: No rank insignia. Depending on the arm, they are called
- fantassin (infantry)
- légionnaire (Légion étrangère)
- artilleur (artillery)
- sapeur (engineering, including the sapeurs-pompiers de Paris)
- chasseur ("Hunter": light troops used for reconnaissance and harassment)
- chasseurs à pied (Light Infantry)
- chasseurs à cheval (Light Mounted Infantry)
- chasseurs alpins (Light Alpine Infantry)
- chasseurs parachutistes (Airborne Infantry Commandos)
- dragon (Dragoon: Mounted Infantry unit)
- cuirassier (Cuirassier: Heavy Cavalry unit)
- hussard (Hussar: Light Cavalry unit)
- transmetteur (signals corps)
- conducteur (trains).
- Marsouin (Troupes de marine): From a term for the Harbour Porpoise, due to their duties at sea or on land.
- SLANG
- Bigor (Artillerie de la marine; see Troupes de marine): A term either from the gunner's order to fire (Bigue de hors) or a term for a species of sea slug (bigorneau) because they would stick to their emplacements and couldn't be removed easily.
- Colo (Troupes Coloniales): The former term for the Troupes de la Marine when they were Colonial troops.
- Para (Troupes aéroportées): Airborne troops, short for parachutist.
- Gazier (Troupes aéroportées): Airborne troops "grunt". Friendly nickname.
- Poilu (Infanterie): "Hairy One". A derogatory term, much like the Commonwealth Forces term Pongo ("Smelly one"). Only used when speaking of French soldiers of WW1 in the trenches, who had no time nor soap to shave.
- Biffin slang used by Troupes de Marine to designate other infantry units. Probably comes from the fact that marsouins use to own their uniform and were proud of it, whereas other units were dressed in rags (biffe is an old french word for rag).
There are also distinctions to distinguish volunteers and conscripts, and bars for experience (one for five years, up to four can be obtained).
Ingénieurs du service du matériel
- Ingénieur général de première classe
- Ingénieur général de deuxième classe
- Ingénieur en chef de première classe
- Ingénieur en chef de deuxième classe
- Ingénieur principal
- Ingénieur de première classe
- Ingénieur de deuxième classe
- Ingénieur de troisième classe
Table of ranks
See also
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