| abstract | - In the Canadian Forces, the rank of colonel (Col) (French: colonel or col) is an army or air force rank equal to a captain of the navy. A colonel is the highest rank of senior officer. A colonel is senior to a lieutenant-colonel or naval commander, and junior to a brigadier-general or commodore. Typical appointments for colonels include:
* Base commander (BComd)
* Wing commander (Wg Comd)
* Commanding officer of a school or training establishment, such as commandant of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College, or commander of Combat Training Centre Gagetown
* Commander of a brigade group
* Branch advisor
* Military attaché to foreign nations The rank insignia for a colonel is four stripes, worn on the cuffs of the service dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The insignia worn on the headdress for an army colonel is the crest of the Canadian coat of arms: a crowned gold lion with a maple leaf in its paw standing on a red-and-white wreath, all beneath the royal crown; the collar insignia is two crossed sabres. Some colonels, by nature of holding a specific appointment, may continue to wear the insignia of their personnel branch or regiment; for example, the honorary colonel of an infantry regiment. Colonels in the air force wear the badge of their personnel branch (most often the Air Operations Branch) on their headdress. Colonels are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Before unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, rank structure and insignia followed the British pattern.
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