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Ensign (rank)

Navies Armies Air forces
Commissioned officers
Admiral of
the fleet
Marshal or
Field marshal
Marshal of
the air force
Admiral General Air chief marshal
Vice admiral Lieutenant general Air marshal
Rear admiral Major general Air vice-marshal
Commodore Brigadier or
Brigadier general
Air commodore
Captain Colonel Group captain
Commander Lieutenant colonel Wing commander
Major or
Squadron leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant or
First lieutenant
Flying officer
Ensign Second
Pilot officer
Midshipman Officer cadet Officer cadet
Enlisted grades
Warrant officer or
Chief petty officer
Warrant officer or
Sergeant major
Warrant officer
Petty officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading seaman Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman

Ensign late 14c., via Scottish, from Old French enseigne (12c.) "mark, symbol, signal; flag, standard, pennant", from Latin insignia (plural) is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name. This rank has generally been replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant.[1] Ensigns were generally the lowest ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern itself existed.[2]

In Thomas Venn's 1672 Military and Maritime Discipline in Three Books, the duties of ensigns are to include not only carrying the colour but assisting the captain and lieutenant of a company and in their absence, have their authority.[3]

"Ensign" is enseigne in French, and chorąży in Polish, each of which derives from a term for a flag. The Spanish alférez and Portuguese alferes is a junior officer rank below lieutenant associated with carrying the flag, and so is often translated as "ensign". Unlike the rank in other languages, its etymology has nothing to do with flags, but instead comes from the arabic for "cavalier" or "knight". Fähnrich in German comes from an older German military title, Fahnenträger (flag bearer); however, it is an officer cadet rank, not a junior officer - the same applies to the Dutch Vaandrig, which has a parallel etymology. In the German Landsknecht armies (c. 1480), the equivalent rank of a Cornet existed for those men who carried the troop standard (known as a "cornet"). It is still used in the artillery and cavalry divisions of the Netherlands (Kornet).

The NATO rank code is OF-1 (junior).


  • Argentina 1
  • France and Canada 2
  • Austria and Germany 3
  • New Zealand 4
  • Norway 5
  • Poland 6
  • Romania 7
  • Russia 8
  • Slovakia 9
  • Sweden 10
  • United Kingdom 11
  • United States 12
  • Popular Culture 13
  • See also 14
  • References 15
  • External links 16


In Argentina, the rank of ensign is used by both the air force and the gendarmerie. It is, however, used differently in the two services. The air force uses the rank for newly qualified officers, while the gendarmerie uses "ensign" ranks as an equivalent for the army's "lieutenant" ranks.

Argentine Air Force Rank Argentine Gendarmerie Rank Equivalent Commonwealth Ranks for comparison
Ensign Subensign Acting pilot officer / 2nd lieutenant
Lieutenant Ensign Pilot officer / 2nd lieutenant
First lieutenant First ensign Flying officer / lieutenant

The other armed forces of Argentina have ranks equivalent to ensign: subteniente (which can be translated into English as "sublieutenant") in the army and guardiamarina (midshipman) in the navy".[4] In the army, the most junior sublieutenant in a regiment (or other unit) is also the flag carrier.

France and Canada

Enseigne de vaisseau de première classe
Enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe

During the Ancien Régime in France, as in other countries, the ensign (enseigne) was the banner of an infantry regiment.[5] As in other countries, the name began to be used for the officers who carried the ensign. It was renamed sublieutenant (sous-lieutenant) at the end of the 18th century. The Navy used a rank of ship-of-the-line ensign (enseigne de vaisseau), which was the first officer rank. It was briefly renamed ship-of-the-line sublieutenant (sous-lieutenant de vaisseau) in the end of the 18th century, but its original name was soon restored.

Nowadays, the rank is still used in the Marine Nationale: Ship-of-the-line ensign (enseigne de vaisseau) is the name of the two lowest officer ranks (which are distinguished from one another as "first class", equal to an army lieutenant, and "second class", equal to an army sublieutenant.) Both ranks of ensign use the style lieutenant.

French-speaking Canadian Naval officers also use the terms of enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe and de première classe as the French term for acting sublieutenant and sublieutenant respectively. However, French-Canadian sublieutenants use the short form of enseigne instead of lieutenant.

The rank "ensign" is also used to refer to second lieutenants (NATO OF-1) in household regiments of the Canadian Army.

Austria and Germany

German Army and Air Force rank insignia
Austrian Army rank insignia

Fähnrich which has a parallel etymology to ensign, containing the corresponding German word stem of "flag" in it, is a German and an Austrian officer cadet rank. The word Fähnrich comes from an older German military title, Fahnenträger (literally: "flag carrier"), and first became a distinct military rank on 1 January 1899.

The German Fähnrich is a non-commissioned officer promoted from the rank of Fahnenjunker (German Army) or Seekadett (German Navy). Fähnrich is equivalent to Feldwebel (staff sergeant), but with additional responsibilities as an officer cadet. If successful, he may be promoted to Oberfähnrich (German Army, equivalent to Hauptfeldwebel, or sergeant first class) or to Oberfähnrich zur See (German Navy), before being made an officer. The German rank Fähnrich should not be translated into English as "ensign" to avoid the possible misconception that this would be an officer's rank, and the English navy rank "ensign" should not be translated as "Fähnrich" but as "Leutnant zur See", which is the German equivalent.

New Zealand

Shoulder insignia of an RNZN ensign

The Royal New Zealand Navy, unlike the Royal Navy — whose uniforms, insignia, and traditions it inherited — created the ensign grade to equal the lowest commissioned RNZAF grade of pilot officer and the New Zealand Army grade of second lieutenant. It ranks above the grade of midshipman. Like the grade of pilot officer, it uses a single thin strip of braid.

The fact that the Royal Navy has no real equivalent to the lowest commissioned Royal Air Force and British Army grades was one of the driving factors behind the RNZN's decision to create the ensign grade. Another was that, at the time, New Zealand was actively involved with the United States Armed Forces, so it made sense to balance the rank system out with that used by the United States Navy.


Norwegian Navy fenrik insignia
Norwegian Army and Home Guard fenrik insignia

The Royal Norwegian Navy, the Norwegian Army and the Royal Norwegian Air Force's equivalent of ensign is fenrik (the rank below lieutenant). It was previously referred to as second lieutenant (Norwegian: sekondløytnant), while the rank of lieutenant was called premier lieutenant.

The rank is obtained after attending befalsskolen for one year, from which the candidate emerges as a sergeant, and serving as a sergeant for three additional years. The rank is known to have been temporarily given to soldiers with rank equivalent of non-commissioned officers, indicating skills and performance beyond their rank, in contract based operative service (UN, NATO). This is highly uncommon and the rank is reverted after the contract period ends.

A fenrik serves as a NATO (OF-1) second lieutenant, but the function of the rank differs drastically from other armies. Although it is an officer rank, it strongly resembles an NCO rank in practice. Fenriks are usually former experienced sergeants without officer education, and usually fill such roles as squad leaders and platoon sergeants. This is due to the lack of an NCO-corps in the Norwegian Army.

The historical background for this is that Norway's NCO corps was discontinued on 1 July 1975, and the senior NCOs currently serving were given officer ranks. NCOs ranking as oversersjant were given the officer rank of fenrik, NCOs ranking as stabssersjant were given the rank of lieutenant, and - in accordance with "Hærordningen av 1. januar 1977" - the most senior of the NCOs ranking as stabsserjant were given the rank of captain.

The corresponding ranks for the Royal Norwegian Navy were overkvartermester (kvartermester I klasse) and flaggkvartermester. The corresponding ranks for the Royal Norwegian Air Force were vingsersjant and stabssersjant.

The rank insignia is worn on the sleeves (navy dress uniform only), on the shoulders of service uniforms or - more recently - on the chest. The chest placement is of newer date, and was introduced with the M-2000 uniform, which is worn by both noncommissioned ranks and officers in all branches of the Norwegian Defence.


The Polish Army equivalent of "ensign" is "chorąży" (the Polish for "ensign" or "flag" being "chorągiew"). In Poland, "ensign" is not an officer rank - it is an NCO equivalent. Before the 2007 reform, soldiers at the rank of chorąży formed a separate corps above the NCOs. The different ranks are as follows:

  1. Junior ensign Junior ensign
  2. Ensign Ensign
  3. Senior ensign Senior ensign
  4. Senior staff ensign Senior staff ensign


The Romanian Navy equivalent of "ensign" is aspirant.


The present-day Russian Army linguistic equivalent is the non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank of praporshchik (Russian: пра́порщик), and the Russian Navy equivalent is mitshman (Russian: ми́чман).


In The Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic equivalent is práporčík.



United Kingdom

Until 1871, when it was replaced by second lieutenant, ensign was the lowest rank of commissioned officer in infantry regiments of the British Army (except fusilier and rifle regiments, which always used second lieutenant). It was the duty of officers of this rank to carry the colours of the regiment. In the 16th century, "ensign" was corrupted into "ancient", and was used in the two senses of a banner and the bearer of the banner. Today, the term "ensign" is still used by the Foot Guards regiments, for instance during the ceremony of trooping the colour. The equivalent cavalry rank was cornet, also being derived from the name of a banner.

United States

Insignia of an ensign, United States Navy

The ranks of ensign and

  • The Definition of Ensigns - Chapter I.

External links

  • Division Officer's Guide. James Stavridis and Robert Girrier. Naval Institute Press, 2004. ISBN 1-59114-799-9.
  1. ^
  2. ^
  3. ^ Venn, Thomas; Tacquet, Andrew & (tr) Lacey, John (translator) Military and Maritime Discipline in Three Books R Pawlet, 1672
  4. ^ Argentine Army official website, ranks of the army compared with those of the air force and navy
  5. ^ The cavalry regiments used the term cornette (cornet) and the dragoon regiments used guidon.
  6. ^ p.970 Tucker, Spencer C.The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812 ABC-CLIO, 25/04/2012
  7. ^
  8. ^


Naval officer ranks
Flag officers:

Admiral of the fleetFleet admiralGrand admiral
AdmiralGeneral admiral
Vice admiralSquadron vice-admiralLieutenant admiral
Rear admiralCounter admiralDivisional admiral
CommodoreFlotilla admiral

Senior officers:

CommanderFrigate captain
Lieutenant commanderCorvette captain

Junior officers:

Captain lieutenantLieutenantShip-of-the-line lieutenant
Frigate lieutenantLieutenant (junior grade)Sub-lieutenant
Corvette lieutenantEnsign

See also

Ensign is used as the most junior officer rank throughout the Star Trek Universe.[8]

Popular Culture

Within the U.S. Public Health Service, those wearing the rank of ensign are part of a commissioned officer student training, and extern program (COSTEP), either junior, for those with more than a year remaining of education in a commissionable degree (JRCOSTEP), or senior, for those within one year of graduating with a commissionable degree (SRCOSTEP).[7] Some officers may hold a permanent rank of ensign based on their experience and education, but then can hold the temporary rank of lieutenant, junior grade.

Navy and Coast Guard ensigns wear collar insignia of a single gold bar and because of this share the nickname "butterbars" with Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps second lieutenants, who wear the same insignia.

Ensigns who become division officers are responsible for leading a group of petty officers and enlisted men in one of the ship's divisions (for example, engineering, navigation, communications, sensors or weapons) while at the same time receiving on-the-job training in leadership, naval systems, programs, and policies from higher-ranking officers and from enlisted men and women.

Depending on the warfare community, an ensign may go directly to a warship after being commissioned to serve as a division officer, or he or she may serve up one to two years of specialty training before reporting to a combat unit (e.g. flight school, weapons systems school, navigator school, submarine school, amphibious warfare school, radar school).

In the United States Navy, the rank of "ensign" superseded "passed midshipman" in 1862. Ensign is the junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, and the PHS Commissioned Corps. This rank is also used in the U.S. Maritime Service and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Ensign ranks below lieutenant junior grade, and it is equivalent to a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force.


