Rank insignia in the French Army are worn on the sleeve or on shoulder marks of uniforms, and range up to the highest rank of Marshal of France, a state honour denoted with a seven-star insignia that was last conferred posthumously on Marie Pierre Koenig in 1984.
Infantry arms and cavalry arms
Rank insignia in the French army depend on whether the soldier belongs to an infantry or cavalry unit. The infantry arms (armes à pied) include normal infantry, naval troops, the Foreign Legion and engineers; cavalry arms (armes à cheval) include armoured cavalry, artillery, maintenance and logistics. Sleeves are emblazoned with marks denoting either gold insignia for the infantry or silver/white for the cavalry. However, the artillery uses gold as the main colour, despite being a cavalry branch, and spahis use gold as the main colour despite being part of the cavalry, a distinction representing the armoured cavalry.
Marshal
Insignia of a marshal of France
The title of "marshal of France" (maréchal de France) is awarded as a distinction, rather than a rank. The marshals wear seven stars and carry a baton.
As a distinction rather than a rank, the title of Marshal is granted through a special law voted by the French Parliament. For this reason, it is impossible to demote a Marshal. The most famous example is Philippe Pétain, who became famous as Maréchal Pétain, chief of state of the Vichy France regime. When he was tried for high treason, the judges were empowered to demote his other ranks and titles, but due to the principle of separation of powers, the judges had no authority to cancel the law that had made Pétain a Marshal and it remained the only title he kept after being sentenced.
Although they all wear the same insignia and titles, officers are divided into:
Regular officers of the army
Officers of the Armed Forces Commisariat Corps (formerly Army Commisariat Corps)
Officers of the technical and administrative corps of the armed forces (formerly of the Army)
Officiers généraux - general officers
There is no distinction between infantry and cavalry generals, since they are all supposed to be able to command any type of unit. The rank was formerly designated as Lieutenant-General of the Armies until 1791. The official historic succession of the "Lieutenant-General of France" corresponded to Général de division for the French Army, and Vice-Amiral (Vice-Admiral) for the French Navy. The rank of Général de corps d'armée wasn't officially adopted until 1939, along with five other French Armed Forces ranks. It must also be noted that Army corps general and Army general are not really ranks, but styles and positions (Rang et appellation in french) bestowed upon a Divisional general, which is the highest substantive rank in the French Army.
Officiers supérieurs - senior officers
Officiers subalternes - junior officers
Sous-officiers - sub-officers, i.e. non-commissioned officers
Aspirants are cadet officers still in training. Sous-lieutenants are junior officers and are often aided by adjudants or adjudants-chefs, who are experienced NCOs/warrant officers.
Full lieutenants are experienced junior officers, served by sergeants when commanding their unit.
A four chevron sergent-chef-major rank existed until 1947. It was a ceremonial rank usually given to the most senior or experienced NCO in a unit. It was discontinued in the post-war army due to its redundancy.[citation needed]
Militaires du rang - Troop ranks
Junior enlisted grades have different cloth stripe and beret colour depending on the service they are assigned to. Troupes métropolitaines ("from the French mainland") units wear blue, Troupes de marine (the former troupes coloniales') wear red, and the Légion Étrangère (Foreign Legion) units wear green.
A red beret indicates a paratrooper, whether from the "troupes de marine" or not. A legionnaire paratrooper wears a green beret with the general parachutist badge on it, the same badge used by all French Army paratroopers who completed their training.
Senior grades' lace stripe metal depends on their arm of service, just like the officiers. Infantry and support units wear gold stripes and cavalry and technical services units wear silver stripes.
Soldat de deuxième classe: No rank insignia. Depending on the arm, they are called
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 winkle (bigorneau) because they would stick to their emplacements and couldn't be removed easily.
Colo (French Colonial Forces): The former term for the troupes de la marine when they were colonial troops.
Para (troupes aéroportées): Airborne troops, short for "parachutist".
Marsouin (literally "porpoise"; marines or naval infantry)
Poilu (infanterie): "Hairy one". A term that appeared during the First Empire and used to refer to the French soldiers as they often wore a beard and/or a moustache—and were represented that way on memorials. Nowadays, this term is used to refer to French soldiers who fought in the trenches of WW1, though it is seldom used to refer to WW2 soldiers. It is synonym of bravery and endurance.
Biffin slang used by troupes de marine and fusiliers marins to designate other infantry units. Probably comes from the fact that 'marsouins and naval riflemen used to own their uniform and were proud of it, whereas other units were dressed in rags (biffe is an old French word for rag). This word is not used to designate a legionnaire.
There are also distinctions to distinguish volunteers and conscripts, and bars for experience (one for five years, up to four can be obtained).
Engineer officer ranks
Army Commissariat Service officer ranks
These ranks apply the word commissaire in light of their participation and role in the Commissariat Service of the army.
Military chaplains
Ranks formerly used in the Army
Brigadier des armées du roi (lit.'Brigadier of the king's armies') lowest general officer rank of the Ancien Régime Army.
Sergent-Major was a rank created in 1776 and was renamed Sergent-Chef in 1928. The four-chevron NCO rank of Sergent-Major was re-established in 1942, now given to company administrative Sous-officiers, and ranked between the three-chevron Sergent-Chef and Adjudant. Eventually promotions were put on hold in 1962. The rank was officially abolished in 1971, though present rank holders were allowed to continue to use it. The last Sergent-Major retired in 1985.
Sergent appelés ("Conscript Sergeant" - Foot) / Maréchal des logis appelés ("Conscript Sergeant" - Horse) was a rank given to a conscript promoted to Sergeant while they were on National Service. A career Sergent or Maréchal des logis who had enlisted (who wore two lace chevrons instead of the conscript's one) would outrank them.
Fourrier ("Quartermaster") - A sous-officier in charge of distributing rations, keeping the unit's accounts, and arranging and assigning living quarters when the company was on the march. If there wasn't a decent-sized town or city on the route, the Fourrier would travel with the Pionniers to clear and set up a campsite for the unit.
^The Général de corps d'armée in the French Armed Forces, is the third ranking order of the general officer corps, based on the hierarchical order. The designation of a général de corps d'armée is situated above a général de division and underneath the designation of général d'armée. By regulation, the rank refers to an officer of the rank of « Général de division » who receives the « rank and designation » of a « Général de corps d'armée ». This rank would command an Army Corps, a unit composing several Divisions. The insignia is composed of 4 stars. A Presidential Decree on 19 November 1873 introduced for a first time the notion of "corps armée". A circular on 17 March 1921 depicted that generals commanding an Army Corps (French: corps d'armée) would wear a 4th star, forming with the first three, a diamond shape. The generals commanding the army and the members of the Superior War Council wore a 5th star, superposed in the first 4 stars. Finally a Law Decree of 6 June 1939 made official, the designations and ranks referrals of "Général d'armée", "Général de corps d'armée", "Amiral", "Vice-amiral d'escadre", "Général d'armée aérienne" et "Général de corps aérien".
References
^ a b cInstruction N° 10300/DEF/EMAT/LOG/ASH (PDF) (in French). Staff of the French Army. 13 June 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
^"Première remise du nouveau galon de SCH BM2 par le CEMAT". rh-terre.defense.gouv.fr (in French). 7 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
