Colonel is a rank of the British forces, ranking below Brigadier

Brigadier (United Kingdom)

Brigadier is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines.Brigadier is the superior rank to Colonel, but subordinate to Major-General....

, and above Lieutenant Colonel. British Colonels are not usually field commanders; typically they serve as staff officers between field commands at battalion and brigade level. The insignia is two diamond shaped pips

British Army officer rank insignia

-Origins:The first British Army rank insignia were introduced in 1760. According to the Royal Clothing Warrant, General Officers were distinguished by the pattern and arrangement of laces on the cuff.Badges for field officers were first introduced in 1810...

 (properly called "Bath Stars"

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

) below a crown. The crown has varied in the past with different monarchs; the current Queen's

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 reign has used St Edward's Crown.

During World War I, colonels wore the following cuff badges:
From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of colonel. It was superseded by the rank of group captain

Group Captain

Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...

 on the following day.

Ceremonial ranks

In the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, Colonel may also refer to the ceremonial head of a regiment. This is almost always a general officer, Brigadier

Brigadier

Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

 or Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

, often retired, with a close link to the regiment in question. Some non-military personnel may be appointed to the position, thereby holding an Honorary rank of Colonel for the duration of the appointment, though usually with the Territorial Army units.

The position is often described as "Colonel of the Regiment", to distinguish it from the rank of Colonel. When attending functions as "Colonel of the Regiment", the officer wears the rank insignia of (full) Colonel, regardless of their official rank. This position may also be held by a member of the Royal Family

Royal family

A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...

, who is then known as a "Royal Colonel".

Colonel-in-Chief

Colonel-in-Chief

In the various Commonwealth armies, the Colonel-in-Chief of a regiment is its patron. This position is distinct from that of Colonel of the Regiment. They do not have an operational role. They are however kept informed of all important activities of the regiment, and pay occasional visits to its...

 is also a ceremonial title of the British Army. It is usually held by a member of the Royal Family

British Royal Family

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

. The Colonel of the Regiment often has a closer involvement with the regiment and its Regimental Association than does the Colonel-in-Chief, as she/he has usually had direct military involvement, unlike the members of the Royal Family.

"Colonel of Marines" was once an honour bestowed upon Royal Navy Post-captain

Post-Captain

Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...

s as a reward for highly distinguished service. This was a salaried sinecure position with no additional obligations outside the captain's normal naval duties. He would lose this title and its additional pay upon reaching flag rank. Horatio Nelson was given such a colonelcy in 1795, two years before he reached flag rank.

See also

• British and U.S. military ranks compared
• British Army Other Ranks rank insignia
• British Army officer rank insignia
  British Army officer rank insignia
  -Origins:The first British Army rank insignia were introduced in 1760. According to the Royal Clothing Warrant, General Officers were distinguished by the pattern and arrangement of laces on the cuff.Badges for field officers were first introduced in 1810...
  
  
• Colonel (title)
  Colonel (title)
  The honorary title of Colonel is conferred by some states in the United States of America and certain units of the Canadian Forces. The origins of the titular colonelcy can be traced back to colonial and antebellum times when men of the landed gentry were given the title for financing the local...