Brigadier is a rank in the British military, Australian Army, New Zealand Army and several other Commonwealth armies ranking above Colonel and immediately below Major-General. It was introduced in 1928 to replace the short-lived appointment of Colonel-Commandant that had replaced the rank of Brigadier-General in 1922.
A Brigadier is properly considered the most senior field rank and is therefore more a senior colonel than the lowest rank of general (much like a Commodore is to an Admiral in the navy). Until shortly after the Second World War it was only an appointment conferred on colonels (as commodore was an appointment conferred on naval captains) and not a substantive rank. It has been awarded the equivalent NATO status as a Brigadier General in the United States military, where it is a general officer rank.
The rank insignia is a crown placed over three stars (sometimes called "pips") arranged pyramidically with one directly over the other two.
In some branches of the French Army, Brigadier is a rank equivalent to Caporal (corporal). In the Police Nationale, variations (Sous-brigadier, Brigadier-chef and Brigadier-major) are used for all non-commissioned officers.
See also