Colombian Military Ranks: Complete Guide to Ranks, Insignia and Badges (2026)

Colombia’s armed forces wear their rank in gold — suns, stars, bars and sleeve stripes on the shoulder boards and sleeves of their uniforms. A Colombian general is recognised by the gold suns on his shoulders, a junior officer by the gold stars, and a sergeant by the chevrons on his sleeve. This guide covers every Colombian military rank with its insignia, across the three service branches — the National Army, the National Navy and the Aerospace Force — from Soldado (OR-1) to General de ejército (OF-9).

The Military Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Militares de Colombia) are made up of three branches, in protocol order: the National Army (Ejército Nacional), the National Navy (Armada Nacional) and the Colombian Aerospace Force (Fuerza Aeroespacial Colombiana). Each branch has nine officer ranks and its own set of non-commissioned officer and enlisted ranks, and the system closely parallels the United States military: nine officer grades from second lieutenant to general, with senior NCOs at the top of the enlisted ladder. Colombia is not a member of NATO, so the NATO grades (OF and OR) shown here are approximate equivalents for comparison, not official NATO codes.

Colombian Army Officer Ranks (OF-1 to OF-9)

The Colombian Army is the largest of the three branches, and the second largest army in the Americas after the United States. Its nine officer ranks run from Subteniente, the newly commissioned officer, up to General de ejército. Generals are the easiest officers to spot: they wear gold suns (soles) on their shoulder boards — one sun for a Brigadier general, two for a Mayor general and three for a General de ejército. Below the generals, senior officers wear gold bars and junior officers wear gold stars.

Army officers are commissioned from the Escuela Militar de Cadetes in Bogotá, and the Army’s motto is Patria, Honor, Lealtad — Fatherland, Honour, Loyalty.

Colombian Army Enlisted Ranks (OR-1 to OR-9)

Army enlisted ranks are split into senior NCOs, junior NCOs and soldiers. The three most senior grades — Sargento mayor de comando, Sargento mayor de ejército and Sargento mayor de comando conjunto — are the senior enlisted advisors at command, Army and joint-command level. Enlisted insignia are chevrons worn on the sleeve, growing more elaborate as the grade rises. A conscripted Soldado wears no insignia at all.

Two details are worth knowing. A Soldado profesional is a soldier who stayed in the Army after his 22 months of mandatory service and made it a career; the number on his insignia shows how many years he has served. The Army also has Dragoneantes — soldiers recognised for achievement and special training who hold a degree of authority over ordinary soldiers, with grades from Dragoneante up to Dragoneante mayor de escuela — and cadets hold the grades of Alumno, in three levels.

Colombian Navy Officer Ranks (OF-1 to OF-9)

The Colombian Navy (Armada de la República de Colombia) guards the country’s coasts on both the Caribbean and the Pacific, its great river network and a few land areas. Its officers use naval titles rather than Army ones: Almirante instead of General, Capitán de navío instead of Coronel. Navy officer insignia follow the classic pattern of gold sleeve stripes with the executive curl — a loop at the top of the upper stripe. Admirals wear broad gold stripes, and the number of stripes rises with the grade.

Navy officers are commissioned from the Escuela Naval de Cadetes in Cartagena. Like the Army, the Navy has no OF-8 grade: the ladder runs Vicealmirante (OF-7) straight to Almirante (OF-9).

Colombian Navy Enlisted Ranks (OR-2 to OR-9)

Navy enlisted personnel are called Suboficiales (petty officers) and Marineros (seamen). The senior grades carry the words jefe técnico — chief technician — reflecting the Navy’s technical character, and the top two are command-level advisors, just as in the Army. Navy enlisted insignia are gold markings on the sleeve: chevrons and bars for the Suboficiales, and sleeve stripes for the Marineros.

The Navy also includes the Marine Infantry (Infantería de Marina), a corps within the Navy rather than a separate branch. Its officers use Army rank names — General, Coronel, Capitán and so on — combined with naval-style insignia, and its enlisted ranks mirror the Army’s, from Sargento mayor de comando conjunto down to Infante regular. It is the force for amphibious, riverine and littoral operations, which matter greatly in a country with two oceans and thousands of kilometres of navigable rivers.

Colombian Aerospace Force Officer Ranks (OF-1 to OF-9)

The Colombian Aerospace Force (Fuerza Aeroespacial Colombiana, FAC) protects Colombian airspace. Its officer ranks are the same as the Army’s, with del aire added to the three general ranks, and its insignia follow the Army pattern: gold suns for generals, gold bars for senior officers and gold stars for junior officers, worn on blue shoulder boards. Its motto is Sic itur ad astra — “Thus one goes to the stars.”

Air Force officers are commissioned from the Escuela Militar de Aviación Marco Fidel Suárez in Cali. As in the other two branches, there is no OF-8 grade: Mayor general del aire (OF-7) is followed directly by General del aire (OF-9).

Colombian Aerospace Force Enlisted Ranks (OR-2 to OR-9)

Aerospace Force enlisted personnel are called Técnicos — technicians — and the name fits: the service runs on aircraft maintenance, radar, communications and logistics, and its NCOs are the technical specialists who keep the fleet flying. Their insignia are gold chevrons and bars worn on the sleeve, like the Army’s, on a blue uniform. There is no OR-1 grade in the Aerospace Force: the ladder starts at Aerotécnico (OR-2).

How to Read Colombian Officer Insignia

Colombian officer insignia follow one logic across all three branches:

• Suns (soles) — the mark of a general in the Army and the Aerospace Force. One gold sun is a Brigadier general, two suns a Mayor general, three suns a General de ejército or General del aire.
• Stars — the mark of a junior officer in the Army and the Aerospace Force. One gold star is a Subteniente, two stars a Teniente, three stars a Capitán.
• Bars — the mark of a senior officer in the Army and the Aerospace Force. Coronel, Teniente coronel and Mayor wear gold bars on the shoulder board, between the junior officers’ stars and the generals’ suns.
• Sleeve stripes — the mark of a naval officer. Gold stripes around the sleeve, with the executive curl on the top stripe, and broad stripes for the admirals. More stripes mean a higher grade, from Teniente de corbeta up to Almirante.
• The branch colour — the same gold device means a different service depending on its background: Army boards carry the branch colour, the Navy’s stripes are on dark blue, and the Aerospace Force’s devices are on air-force blue.

Two traps catch newcomers. First, Mayor general is not a two-star rank in the NATO sense: Colombia has no OF-8 grade, so Mayor general sits at OF-7 and the next step up is the three-sun General de ejército at OF-9. Second, Capitán means different things in different branches: in the Army and the Air Force it is a junior officer (OF-2) commanding a company or squadron, while in the Navy the word Capitán belongs to the three senior grades — Capitán de corbeta, Capitán de fragata and Capitán de navío — and a Navy officer of OF-2 is a Teniente de navío.

How to Read Colombian Enlisted Insignia

Enlisted insignia are simpler than the officers’ — chevrons and bars on the sleeve — but three rules make them easy to read:

• Chevrons count upward — the more chevrons and bars on the sleeve, the higher the grade. Cabos wear simple chevrons, Sargentos wear chevrons with bars, and the senior Sargento mayor grades add a central device.
• The top grades are advisors, not commanders — in every branch the OR-9 grades end in de comando or de comando conjunto. The word comando tells you the wearer is the senior enlisted advisor to a commander, at command, service or joint level. The three services mirror each other exactly here: Sargento mayor de comando conjunto (Army), Suboficial jefe técnico de comando conjunto (Navy) and Técnico jefe de comando conjunto (Aerospace Force) are the same job in three uniforms.
• No insignia means a conscript — a Soldado in the Army wears nothing on his sleeve. The career soldier next to him, the Soldado profesional, wears a chevron with a number showing his years of service.

Colombian Military Badges

Rank insignia shows a Colombian service member’s grade. Badges show what they are qualified to do:

• The Lancero badge — the best-known Colombian military qualification. The Lancero course, run by the Army’s Escuela de Lanceros, is a gruelling jungle and counter-guerrilla warfare course modelled on the US Ranger course, and its badge is one of the most respected in Latin America.
• Parachutist badge (jump wings) — worn by soldiers, sailors and airmen qualified in military parachuting, including the Army’s airborne units and special forces.
• Pilot wings — gold wings worn by Aerospace Force and Navy pilots, and by Army aviators, who fly helicopters and light aircraft in support of ground operations across Colombia’s mountains and jungles.
• Naval diver and special forces badges — worn by Navy personnel qualified in diving and by the Marine Infantry’s amphibious and riverine specialists.
• Unit and branch badges — each arm and service (infantry, cavalry, engineers, artillery, communications, logistics) has its own branch insignia worn on the collar, so a soldier’s branch can be read alongside his rank.

How Promotion Works in the Colombian Military

Promotion in the Colombian Military Forces is a career system governed by law, and it runs on three things: time in grade, courses and selection. An officer is commissioned from one of the three service academies — the Army’s Escuela Militar de Cadetes in Bogotá, the Navy’s Escuela Naval de Cadetes in Cartagena, or the Air Force’s Escuela Militar de Aviación in Cali — and then advances grade by grade as he completes the required time in each rank and the professional courses that go with it, including command and staff college for senior officers.

Enlisted personnel follow a parallel path through their own NCO schools, from Cabo up through the Sargento grades. Promotion to the senior grades is competitive: there are far fewer places at Sargento primero and above than there are candidates, and the top OR-9 advisory posts are filled by appointment, not by seniority alone. Promotion to general or admiral is a presidential decision: the President, as Commander-in-Chief, appoints the generals and admirals on the recommendation of the Minister of Defence and the service commanders. Field command experience — leading a platoon or a company in the jungle or the mountains — carries great weight in an officer’s record, and qualifications such as the Lancero course are career milestones.

A Note on Colombian Military Tradition

Two things explain almost everything about Colombian ranks. The first is the Spanish colonial and Bolivarian heritage: the rank names are Spanish, the Army traces its origins to the independence armies of Simón Bolívar, and the sun worn by generals is a device with deep roots in the Spanish-speaking military world. The second is the American influence: the rank ladder closely parallels the United States system — nine officer grades, senior NCOs as the backbone, and a Navy that follows the Anglo-American sleeve-stripe tradition — the result of a century of close military cooperation between Colombia and the United States, including the Korean War, where the Colombian Battalion fought alongside US forces, and decades of joint counter-narcotics work.

The result is a system that looks familiar to an American or British reader but is unmistakably Colombian: Spanish titles, gold suns for generals, and the threefold de comando ladder at the top of the enlisted ranks. For comparison, see the guides in the Read Next box below.

FAQs

What is the highest rank in the Colombian military?

General de ejército in the Army, Almirante in the Navy and General del aire in the Aerospace Force — all at OF-9. The highest enlisted rank in each branch is the OR-9 command advisor: Sargento mayor de comando conjunto (Army), Suboficial jefe técnico de comando conjunto (Navy) and Técnico jefe de comando conjunto (Aerospace Force).

What does a sun mean on a Colombian officer’s shoulder board?

A gold sun (sol) marks a general officer in the Army and the Aerospace Force: one sun is a Brigadier general, two suns a Mayor general and three suns a General de ejército or General del aire. The Navy uses broad sleeve stripes for its admirals instead of suns.

Why is there no OF-8 rank in Colombia?

The rank of Teniente general (OF-8) existed from 2010 to 2016 and was then removed. The ladder now jumps from Mayor general (OF-7) straight to General de ejército (OF-9), with the same gap in the Navy and the Aerospace Force.

What is a Soldado profesional?

A career soldier who stayed in the Army after completing the 22 months of mandatory service. His insignia is a chevron carrying a number that shows how many years he has served. A conscripted Soldado wears no rank insignia at all.

What is a Lancero?

A graduate of the Army’s Lancero course, a demanding jungle and counter-guerrilla warfare course run by the Escuela de Lanceros. The Lancero badge is one of the most respected qualifications in the Colombian military.

What is the difference between a Capitán in the Army and a Capitán in the Navy?

In the Army and the Aerospace Force, Capitán is a junior officer (OF-2) who commands a company or squadron. In the Navy, Capitán is a senior rank: Capitán de corbeta (OF-3), Capitán de fragata (OF-4) and Capitán de navío (OF-5) all command ships. The Navy’s OF-2 is called Teniente de navío.

All insignia diagrams and images in this article are original graphics created for Forces Guide.