In May 1949, Lord Mountbatten, the inaugural Governor-General of India and himself a naval officer, dispatched a note to Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru, titled Names and Insignia of Indian Armed Forces, containing a list of suggestions regarding the nomenclature of the armed forces that were to be enforced upon the dominion's conversion to a republic.[2] In the note, Mountbatten proposed that the future IN should retain its predecessor's nomenclature as much as possible - advocating the retention of the RIN's ranks, insignia and uniforms; the only exemption to these retentions was the force's naval ensign, which was modified to feature the Indian tricolor as a substitute for the Union Jack.[2] In September 1949, Nehru forwarded the proposals to the country's minister of defence, Baldev Singh, recommending Mountbatten's suggestions, which were consequently enforced upon India's emergence as a republic on 26 January 1950.[2]
2023 modifications
In December 2022, AdmiralR. Hari Kumar, the IN's Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), proposed several alterations to the force's rank structure, namely, a proposal to drop the rank of Petty Officer and to integrate IN ranks with that of the IA and the IAF, reasoning the present rank nomenclature reflected of what was termed by several as a colonial mindset.[3]
Following a review of the IN rank structure in October 2023, the IN announced that the rank nomenclature of the Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) cadre would be revised to reflect a gender-neutral perspective.[4] Multiple sources indicated that the seven ranks of the PBOR cadre would be allotted Indian-origin names.[5] In March 2024, R. Hari Kumar suggested that "seaman" be replaced with the gender-neutral "nausainik" (navy soldier).[6]
Consequently, the revision plan was publicized during the IN's 2023 Navy Day celebrations, when prime minister Narendra Modi announced that the rank structure's designations would be retitled with domestic names to reflect Indian-origin traditions, while the shoulder board epaulettes worn by flag officers would be altered to bear the octagonal-shaped naval crest, which had been adopted by the IN the previous year.[5] Accordingly, the alterations to the flag officer insignia were revealed later that month; notably, other observable emendations in the new insignia included the introduction of an Indian sword-cum-telescope design in lieu of the older sword-cum-baton design and a gold button embossed with a clear anchor in lieu of a fouled anchor.[7]
Structure
Presently, the IN's rank hierarchy is divided into three broad categories:
Commissioned Officers (CO)
Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO)
Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO)
Commissioned officers
(Rank insignia to be altered according to IN specifications)
The highest rank in the IN's CO cadre is Admiral, a four-star rank, which is held exclusively by the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS).[9] The rank was first awarded to then-Vice Admiral A. K. Chatterji in March 1968, following his appointment to the post of CNS; prior to him, CNS appointees belonged to the three-star rank of Vice Admiral.[10] However, unlike the IA and the IAF, which both bear the honorary five-star ranks of Field Marshal (FM) and Marshal of the Indian Air Force (MIAF) respectively, the IN does not have a correspondingly recognized equivalent, as no four-star admirals were deemed for promotion to five-star rank.[11]
Junior commissioned officer and non-commissioned ranks
Since 1950, the designation of Chief Petty Officer was the highest non-commissioned rank in IN's rank hierarchy until December 1968, when the designations of Master Chief Petty Officer I and Master Chief Petty Officer II were introduced.[13]
