A
flag officer is a
commissioned officer in a nation's
armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a
flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's
navy, specifically those who hold any of the
admiral ranks; in some cases it applies also to those holding the rank of
commodore. In U.S. usage it is additionally applied to general officers in the
Army,
Air Force,
Marine Corps, and
Coast Guard entitled to fly their own flags.
General usage
The generic title of flag officer is used in several modern navies and
associated units to denote those who hold the rank of
rear admiral (or its equivalent) and above, also called "flag ranks"; in some navies, this also includes the rank of
commodore. Flag officer corresponds to the generic terms
general officer (used by land and some air forces to describe all grades of generals) and
air officer (used by other air forces to describe all grades of
air marshals and
air commodores).
A flag officer usually has a junior officer, called a
flag lieutenant or
flag adjutant, attached as a personal
adjutant or
aide-de-camp.
Canada
In the
Canadian Forces, a Flag Officer (
French:
Officier général, "general officer") is an
admiral,
vice-admiral,
rear-admiral, or
commodore, the naval equivalent of a
general officer of the Army or Air Force. It is a somewhat counterintuitive usage of the term, as only Flag Officers in command of commands or...
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