Ranks and insignia of NATO

Ranks and insignia of NATO affiliated nations are combined military insignia used by the member countries (and other affiliated nations) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.

Rank codes

NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to match every member country's military ranks to corresponding ranks used by the other members. The NATO rank reference code categories were established in a 1978 document entitled STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel).

201444750930,90205732332550342365=201444750930,90205732332550342365= Officer rank codes =201444750930,90205732332550342365=201444750930,90205732332550342365

OF-1 – OF-10 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for [201444750930,90205732332550342365[commissioned officer]201444750930,90205732332550342365]s:{201444750930,90205732332550342365{sfn|NATO|2021|p=1-1}201444750930,90205732332550342365}

• OF-6 – OF-10: [201444750930,90205732332550342365[General officer]201444750930,90205732332550342365]s
• OF-3 – OF-5: [201444750930,90205732332550342365[Field officer|Senior officer]201444750930,90205732332550342365]s
• OF-1 – OF-2: [201444750930,90205732332550342365[Junior officer]201444750930,90205732332550342365]s

201444750930,90205732332550342365=201444750930,90205732332550342365= Other rank codes ==

OR1–OR9 (lowest Rank code to highest) are used for other ranks:{201444750930,90205732332550342365{sfn|NATO|2021|p=1-1}201444750930,90205732332550342365}

• OR-5 – OR-9: [201444750930,90205732332550342365[Non-commissioned officer]201444750930,90205732332550342365]s
• OR-1 – OR-4: [201444750930,90205732332550342365[Enlisted rank]201444750930,90205732332550342365]s

Comparison to US system

The numbers in the system broadly correspond to the U.S. uniformed services pay grades, with OR-x replacing E-x. The main difference is in the commissioned officer ranks, where the US system recognises two ranks at OF-1 level (O-1 and O-2), meaning that all O-x numbers after O-1 are one point higher on the US scale than they are on the NATO scale (e.g. a major is OF-3 on the NATO scale and O-4 on the US scale).

Officer ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Uniformed services pay grade	Special grade		O-10		O-9		O-8		O-7		O-6		O-5		O-4		O-3		O-2			O-1			Officer candidate/Cadet

Other ranks

Rank group	Non-commissioned officers																						Enlisted
NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Uniformed services pay grade	Special			E-9			E-8		E-7		E-6						E-5						E-4				E-3		E-2						E-1

Ranks and insignia of member armed forces

Army

• Ranks and insignia of NATO member army officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member army enlisted

Air Force

• Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force enlisted

Navy

• Ranks and insignia of NATO member navy officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member navy enlisted

See also

• Comparative military ranks

References

Sources

• NATO (2021). STANAG 2116 NATO (7th ed.). Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Agency.
• "NATO CODES FOR GRADES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL. STANAG 2116. (Edition No. 4) NAVY/ARMY/AIR" (PDF). Royal Navy. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
• "STANAG 2116 (Edition 5)". Latvian National Armed Forces. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
• "person-type-rank-code". Multilateral Interoperability Programme. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
• "NATO Rank Comparison". Canadian Forces. Retrieved 2009-06-24.

External links

• NATO. "APersP-01". nso.nato.int. Retrieved 23 September 2022.