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A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.^[a]

In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel.^[1]

The adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction.

French Revolutionary system

Marshal or Captain general

Army general

Corps general

Divisional general

Brigade general

Arab system

Rank	Transliteration	Translation	Notes
مشير	Mushīr	Counsellor	compare Counsellor of State, State Counsellor etc. compare etymology "mushir" with "shura"
فريق أول	Fariq 'awal	First general	equivalent to Commonwealth "full" general
فريق	Fariq	General	equivalent to lieutenant general or corps general
لواء	liwāʾ	Ensign	(more loosely "flag officer" or "banner")
عميد	ʿamīd	Colonel (not to be confused with aqīd, the equivalent rank to a Commonwealth colonel)	compare etymology with "ʿamood" ("column"); etymologically, translates as "colonel" but equivalent to brigadier/brigade general

Other variations

Other nomenclatures for general officers include the titles and ranks:

Adjutant general
Commandant-general
Inspector general
General-in-chief
General of the Army (which is distinct from the title army general)
General of the Air Force (USAF only)
General of the Armies of the United States (of America), a title created for General John J. Pershing, and subsequently granted posthumously to George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant
Generaladmiral ("general admiral") (German Navy)
Air general and aviation general
Wing general and group general
General-potpukovnik (transl. Lieutenant colonel general, a Serb/Slovenian/Macedonian rank immediately inferior to colonel general, and roughly equivalent to Commonwealth/US major general)
Director general (a common administrative term sometimes used as an appointment in military services)
Director general of national defence (most senior rank in the Mexican Armed Forces)
Controller general (general officer rank in the French National Police)
Prefect general (the most senior rank of the Argentine Naval Prefecture)
Master-General of the Ordnance (very senior British military position)
Police General (most senior rank of the Philippine National Police)
Commissioner (highest rank of the Bureau of Immigration)
Jenderal Polisi (Police General), the highest rank in the Indonesian National Police

In addition to militarily educated generals, there are also generals in medicine and engineering. The rank of the most senior chaplain, (chaplain general), is also usually considered to be a general officer rank.

Specific rank of general

In the old European system, a general, without prefix or suffix (and sometimes referred to informally as a "full general"), is usually the most senior type of general, above lieutenant general and directly below field marshal as a four-star rank (NATO OF-9).

Usually it is the most senior peacetime rank, with more senior ranks (for example, field marshal, marshal of the air force, fleet admiral) being used only in wartime or as honorary titles.

In some armies, however, the rank of captain general, general of the army, army general or colonel general occupied or occupies this position. Depending on circumstances and the army in question, these ranks may be considered to be equivalent to a "full" general or to a field marshal five-star rank (NATO OF-10).

The rank of general came about as a "captain-general", the captain of an army in general (i.e., the whole army). The rank of captain-general began appearing around the time of the organisation of professional armies in the 17th century. In most countries "captain-general" contracted to just "general".

General ranks by country

The following articles deal with the rank of general, or its equivalent, as it is or was employed in the militaries of those countries:

General (Australia)
General (Bangladesh)
General (Canada)
Shangjiang (China) – People's Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan)
General (Denmark), General
General (Estonia), Kindral
General (Finland), Kenraali
General (Germany), General
Strategos (Greece)
General (India)
Daejang (North and South Korea)
General (Mexico)
General (Nigeria)
General (Pakistan)
General (Poland), Generał
General (Sri Lanka)
General (Sweden), General
General (Switzerland)
General (United Kingdom)
General (United States)
General (Yugoslav People's Army)

Air force and naval equivalents

Some countries (such as the United States) use the general officer ranks for both the army and the air force, as well as their marine corps; other states only use the general officer ranks for the army, while in the air force they use air officers as the equivalent of general officers. They use the air force rank of air chief marshal as the equivalent of the specific army rank of general. This latter group includes the British Royal Air Force and many current and former Commonwealth air forces—e.g. Royal Australian Air Force, Indian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Nigerian Air Force, Pakistan Air Force, etc.

In most navies, flag officers are the equivalent of general officers, and the naval rank of admiral is equivalent to the specific army rank of general. A noteworthy historical exception was the Cromwellian naval rank "general at sea". In recent years in the American service there is a tendency to use flag officer and flag rank to refer to generals and admirals of the services collectively.

Notes

^ Within NATO rank structure, all branches (navy included) are refereed to as general officers. In the United States, General Officers authorized to display a flag showing their rank are also called "flag officers". Refer: "Flag officer". Merriam-Webster.^{[permanent dead link‍]}. In other usages the term "flag officer" usually applies to naval ranks such as admiral, vice-admiral, or rear-admiral.

References

^ "general, adj. and n.". OED Online. March 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/77489?rskey=dCKrg4&result=1 (accessed May 11, 2021)
^ "Ranks". mdn.dz (in French). Ministry of National Defence (Algeria). Retrieved 30 May 2021.