Colonel
Colonel (pronounced KUR-nal) was a military rank, the equivalent of which was used by the service organizations of many civilizations. As a traditional grade, colonel was the most senior line officer rank of a fighting organization, below the flag rank of general and senior to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In comparison to naval ranking systems, this rank was equivalent to the naval captain rank, the Romulan Star Empire's commander grade, the Ferengi Alliance's DaiMon, or the Cardassian Union's title of gul. A colonel commanded a group, consisting of several squadrons, or a regiment, consisting of several battalions.

In Starfleet, a colonel named West was in charge of a military briefing to the Federation President. ()

This grade existed in some form in many cultures' rank arrangements, such as the Klingon Defense Force, and the United States military of Earth. The US insignia for a colonel was a silver rank pin or embroidery shaped like a stylized eagle, holding olive branches in one claw and arrows in the other. The Union Army of the US Civil War had colonel's insignia displayed on two epaulet shoulder straps with colored backgrounds, while later US forces wore the insignia on the collar or epaulet without a background field. The eagles on the two shoulders were not identical, as in each case, the eagle turns its head to face towards the wearer's front.

In the Confederate Army during the US Civil War, a colonel wore three five-pointed stars on either side of his collar. ()

In the German armed forces of World War II, colonels wore silver shoulder knots with two metal pips. The SS equivalent officers wore a single oak leaf insignia on their collar patch, and two metal pips on their shoulder boards. Translated into German as Oberst, colonels of the SS were referred to by the title Standartenführer. (; )

In the Bajoran Militia, a colonel wore golden insignia in 2371, which was changed to a silver insignia by 2375. ())
 

In the Romulan Tal Shiar organization, a colonel wore a collar insignia of a gold triangle with two crescents lined up against it. ()

Noted colonels 
Colonel Jim Bowie (Earth, Texas Militia)
Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher (Earth, affiliation unclear)
Colonel Davy Crockett (Earth, Tennessee Militia and Texas Militia)
Colonel Balthazar Edison (Earth, Military Assault Command Operations)
Colonel  (Bajoran Militia)
Colonel Grat (Tandaran Military)
Colonel Phillip Green (Earth, affiliation unclear)
Colonel Anastasia Komananov (Earth, KGB, fictional)
Colonel Kira Nerys (Bajoran Militia)
Colonel Lenaris Holem (Bajoran Militia)
Colonel Lovok (Tal Shiar)
Colonel M. March (Earth, USAF)
Colonel Narissa (Tal Shiar/Zhat Vash)
Colonel Jack Nesvig (Earth, McKinley Rocket Base security)
Colonel  (Q Continuum, illusory Confederate Army)
Colonel Stephen Richey (Earth, USAF)
*Colonel Cristóbal Rios (Confederation Corps, Confederation of Earth)
Colonel Thaddius Riker (Earth, Union Army)
Colonel Gary Seven (Central Intelligence Agency)  – This was a false identity assumed by Seven.
Colonel West (Starfleet)
Colonel  (Klingon Empire)

External link
 

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Military ranks
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