page_title: Colonel (Canada)
hierarchical_section_title: Colonel (Canada)
context_page_description: In the Canadian Forces, the rank of colonel is a rank for officers who wear army or air force uniform, equal to a captain for officers who wear navy uniform. 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
  Wing commander
  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 air force uniform is four ¹⁄₂-inch stripes, worn on the cuffs of the service dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The insignia for army uniform is two stars and a crown. 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.
context_section_description: In the Canadian Forces, the rank of colonel (Col) (French: colonel, col) is a rank for officers who wear army or air force uniform, equal to a captain for officers who wear navy uniform. 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 air force uniform 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 for army uniform is two stars and a crown. 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. Air force colonels 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.
caption: Army insignia