SPI General Knowledge · Defence and Armed Forces
Ranks and Equivalent Ranks
The officer ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force set side by side, so that any rank can be matched across the services or placed above and below its neighbours.
Why this matters
Eight questions in the bank, all EASY, and two of them are from the 2022 paper. Every one is read off a single table: match a rank across the services, find the next rank up, find the lowest rank in a list, or name the rank of a chief. Learn the table row by row and these are the surest marks in the paper.
Concept 1 of 2: Matching a rank across the three services
The three services use different names for officers of the same level. A Colonel in the Army, a Captain in the Navy and a Group Captain in the Air Force hold the same rank and salute the same way. Learn the ranks as rows of a table: each row is one level in all three services.
Definition
- Read across a row to find the equivalent rank; read down a column to go up in one service.
- The word Captain means two different levels: an Army Captain is a junior officer, a Navy Captain equals an Army Colonel.
- The Air Force names grow from Flying Officer through Squadron Leader, Wing Commander and Group Captain to the Air Marshal ranks.
- Commodore is a Navy rank (equal to Brigadier); the Air Force rank at that level is Air Commodore.
| Army | Navy | Air Force |
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant | Sub Lieutenant | Flying Officer |
| Captain | Lieutenant | Flight Lieutenant |
| Major | Lieutenant Commander | Squadron Leader |
| Lieutenant Colonel | Commander | Wing Commander |
| Colonel | Captain | Group Captain |
| Brigadier | Commodore | Air Commodore |
| Major General | Rear Admiral | Air Vice Marshal |
| Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Air Marshal |
| General | Admiral | Air Chief Marshal |
| Field Marshal | Admiral of the Fleet | Marshal of the Indian Air Force |
Each row is one level. The last row is the honorary five-star rank.
Practice this conceptself-check · 6 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SPI · 2022 · SPI Entrance Examination 2022 · Q109Easy
Example 1 · Defence and Armed Forces · Ranks and Equivalent Ranks
The equivalent rank to Major, in the Indian Air Force, is____.
Two Captains
An Army Captain equals a Navy Lieutenant. A Navy Captain equals an Army Colonel. Check the service before you match the word.
Group Captain is not Captain
Group Captain is an Air Force rank, equal to a Colonel. When a question asks for the Navy equivalent of a Colonel, Group Captain is the wrong-service option and Captain is right.
Commodore and Air Commodore
Commodore is the Navy's rank at Brigadier level; the Air Force calls it Air Commodore. Neither equals a Major or a Colonel.
Concept 2 of 2: Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks
Down one column of the table is the ladder of one service. The top working rung is the four-star rank held by the service chief; above it sits an honorary five-star rank given only for special service.
Definition
- Navy ladder: Sub Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Commodore, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral.
- Air Force ladder: Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant, Squadron Leader, Wing Commander, Group Captain, Air Commodore, Air Vice Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Chief Marshal.
- The head of the Army is the Chief of the Army Staff, a four-star General. The head of the Navy, the Chief of the Naval Staff, is an Admiral. The head of the Air Force, the Chief of the Air Staff, is an Air Chief Marshal.
- Five-star ranks are honorary. Sam Manekshaw (1973) and K.M. Cariappa (1986) were made Field Marshal. Arjan Singh was made Marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002, the only officer to hold it. No one in India has been made Admiral of the Fleet.
| Service | Head's title | Head's rank | Five-star rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Chief of the Army Staff | General | Field Marshal: Manekshaw, Cariappa |
| Navy | Chief of the Naval Staff | Admiral | Admiral of the Fleet: never given |
| Air Force | Chief of the Air Staff | Air Chief Marshal | Marshal of the IAF: Arjan Singh only |
Practice this conceptself-check · 6 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SPI · 2022 · SPI Entrance Examination 2022 · Q110Easy
Example 2 · Defence and Armed Forces · Ranks and Equivalent Ranks
The immediate higher rank to the rank of Commander of Indian Navy is____.
Five stars are honorary
A service chief holds four stars: General, Admiral or Air Chief Marshal. Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet and Marshal of the Indian Air Force are honorary five-star ranks, so they are never the answer for a serving chief's rank.
Flying Officer is below Flight Lieutenant
The two names look alike. Flying Officer is the lowest Air Force officer rank, and Flight Lieutenant is the next one up.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (2)
Matching a rank across the three services10 rows
| Army | Navy | Air Force |
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant | Sub Lieutenant | Flying Officer |
| Captain | Lieutenant | Flight Lieutenant |
| Major | Lieutenant Commander | Squadron Leader |
| Lieutenant Colonel | Commander | Wing Commander |
| Colonel | Captain | Group Captain |
| Brigadier | Commodore | Air Commodore |
| Major General | Rear Admiral | Air Vice Marshal |
| Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Air Marshal |
| General | Admiral | Air Chief Marshal |
| Field Marshal | Admiral of the Fleet | Marshal of the Indian Air Force |
Each row is one level. The last row is the honorary five-star rank.
Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks3 rows
| Service | Head's title | Head's rank | Five-star rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Chief of the Army Staff | General | Field Marshal: Manekshaw, Cariappa |
| Navy | Chief of the Naval Staff | Admiral | Admiral of the Fleet: never given |
| Air Force | Chief of the Air Staff | Air Chief Marshal | Marshal of the IAF: Arjan Singh only |
Watch out for (5)
- Two Captains→ Matching a rank across the three services
- Group Captain is not Captain→ Matching a rank across the three services
- Commodore and Air Commodore→ Matching a rank across the three services
- Five stars are honorary→ Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks
- Flying Officer is below Flight Lieutenant→ Rank order, the chiefs and the five-star ranks
Test yourself on a real paper
Sit a past SPI paper, timed and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.