User:Andrewa/List of highest military ranks

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This is a list of the highest military ranks in modern armies.

To be on this list a rank must:

Be superior to a full (four star) General
Have been either proposed for or actually awarded to a particular person
Either:
- Have been the highest rank in their country's armed forces for at least part of the time it was held
- OR Would have been the highest rank had it been awarded at the time proposed

There are many factors other than rank affecting the superiority of one officer over another, including date of appointment (seniority), retirement, distinctions between operational and ceremonial appointments, particular appointments (such as captaining a ship) in the chain of command, and the relationships between regular and reserve officers. This list is concerned only with superiority of rank.

These high ranks tend to be theater ranks carrying authority across all services, but in some countries there have been two or more similtaneous highest ranks, for example the army rank of Field Marshall and the naval rank of Admiral of the Fleet, with no clear superiority one over the other. In such cases all are shown.

Rank name	Country	Awarded/Proposed	Currently in the rank structure?	Year of first award/proposal	First recipient/Proposed first recipient	Number of actual recipients	Insignia
General of the Army	USA	Awarded	No	1866	Ulysses S. Grant	3	^[1]
Admiral of the Navy	USA	Awarded	No	1903	George Dewey	1
General of the Armies	USA	Awarded	No	1919	John J. Pershing	1
Field marshal	Australia	Awarded	Yes	1925	William Birdwood^[2]	2
Generalissimo	Republic of China	Awarded		1928	Chiang Kai-shek^[3]
Reichsmarschall	Germany	Awarded	No	1940	Hermann Göring	1
General of the Army	USA	Awarded	Yes but not currently held	1944	George Marshall^[4]	5
Generalissimus of the Soviet Union	Soviet Union	Awarded but refused	No	1945	Joseph Stalin	1
General of the Armies of the United States	USA	Awarded posthumously	Yes	1976	George Washington	1
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Note and references

^ In 1872 this was changed to two stars with the coat of arms of the United States in between
^ A. J. Hill, 'Birdwood, William Riddell (Baron Birdwood) (1865 - 1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 293–296.
^ His rank was Tèjíjiàng (特級上將), or "General Special Class". Jay Taylor:The Generalisimo:Chiang Kai-shek and the struggle for modern China (2009) Harvard Press
^ Although Pershing's rank was superior to that of Marshall, Marshall outlived Pershing and thus became the highest ranking officer in the USA

[1] In 1872 this was changed to two stars with the coat of arms of the United States in between

[2] A. J. Hill, 'Birdwood, William Riddell (Baron Birdwood) (1865 - 1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 293–296.

[3] His rank was Tèjíjiàng (特級上將), or "General Special Class". Jay Taylor:The Generalisimo:Chiang Kai-shek and the struggle for modern China (2009) Harvard Press

[4] Although Pershing's rank was superior to that of Marshall, Marshall outlived Pershing and thus became the highest ranking officer in the USA

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

See also

Note and references