Rank Insignia and Personal Flag
The current ranks are rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and admiral of the fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known as flag officers, are entitled to fly a personal flag. An admiral of the fleet flies a Union Flag at the masthead, while an admiral flies a St George's cross (red cross on white). Vice admirals and rear admirals fly a St George’s cross with one or two red discs in the hoist, respectively.
The rank of admiral itself is shown in its sleeve lace by a broad band with three narrower bands. Since 2001 it has been designated a four-star rank when the number of stars on the shoulder board were increased to four.
-
Sleeve lace
-
Shoulder board
-
Shoulder board prior to 2001
-
World War II admiral's shoulder board
-
Command flag for admiral of the fleet
-
Command flag for an admiral
-
Command flag for a vice admiral
-
Command flag for a rear admiral
Read more about this topic: Admiral (Royal Navy)
Famous quotes containing the words rank, personal and/or flag:
“Its whether will ye be a rank robber’s wife,
Or will ye die by my wee pen knife?
Its I’ll not be a rank robber’s wife,
But I’ll rather die by your wee pen knife.
He ‘s killed this may and he ‘s laid her by,
For to bear the red rose company.”
—Unknown. Babylon; or, The Bonnie Banks o’ Fordie (l. 9–14)
“What stunned me was the regular assertion that feminists were “anti-family.” . . . It was motherhood that got me into the movement in the first place. I became an activist after recognizing how excruciatingly personal the political was to me and my sons. It was the women’s movement that put self-esteem back into “just a housewife,” rescuing our intelligence from the junk pile of “instinct” and making it human, deliberate, powerful.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)