Colonel (Canada)

In the Canadian Forces, the rank of colonel (Col) (French: colonel or col) is an army or air force rank equal to a captain of the navy. A colonel is the highest rank of senior officer. A colonel is senior to a lieutenant-colonel or naval commander, and junior to a brigadier-general or commodore.

Typical appointments for colonels include:

• Base commander (BComd)
• Wing commander (Wg Comd)
• Commanding officer of a school or training establishment, such as commandant of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College, or commander of Combat Training Centre Gagetown
• Commander of a brigade group

• Branch advisor
• Military attaché to foreign nations

The rank insignia for a colonel is four ¹⁄₂-inch (1.3 cm) stripes, worn on the cuffs of the service dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The insignia worn on the headdress for an army colonel is the crest of the Canadian coat of arms: a crowned gold lion with a maple leaf in its paw standing on a red-and-white wreath, all beneath the royal crown; the collar insignia is two crossed sabres. Some colonels, by nature of holding a specific appointment, may continue to wear the insignia of their personnel branch or regiment; for example, the honorary colonel of an infantry regiment. Colonels in the air force wear the badge of their personnel branch (most often the Air Operations Branch) on their headdress.

Colonels are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am".

Before unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, rank structure and insignia followed the British pattern.

Army uniform variations

CDN-Army-Col.svg

Dress uniform tunic

Army slip-on Col.png

Uniform shirts

CA-Army-OF5.gif

CADPAT temperate Col.png

CADPAT uniform

CADPAT arid Col.png

Arid-region CADPAT uniform

Air Force uniform variations

Dress uniform tunic

Air Force slip-on Col.png

Uniform shirts

Air Force olive Col.png

CADPAT uniform

Honorary ranks and appointments

There are also several honorary ranks and appointments associated with the rank of colonel, or containing the word "colonel" in their title.

• Colonel-in-chief
• Colonel of the regiment
• Honorary colonel
• Colonel commandant

Personnel holding these honorary ranks are not part of the military operational chain-of-command. Rather, they serve in a ceremonial manner, often as a guest of honour at parades, mess dinners, or at other military traditions such as during Remembrance Day. Usually, honorary ranks are filled by people who have had a prior association with the battalion, regiment, or squadron they represent. Princess Patricia of Connaught was the colonel-in-chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, one of the most decorated infantry regiments in the Canadian Forces (CF). An honorary colonel of a CF flying or air maintenance squadron may be a past commanding officer of that squadron (who has since retired from active duty), or an air ace during the war.