Salvation Army

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Officer Ranks

The rank of an officer is dictated by either years of service or bestowed upon merit/appointment.

Epaulet	Rank	Date Adopted	Current Status	Description	Insignia
	General	1878	Active	The worldwide leader of the Salvation Army, elected by the High Council	Crest with laurel leaves above gold bars on burgundy epaulet
	Chief of the Staff	1878	Active	The second-in-command to the general	Crest with laurel leaves above silver bars on burgundy epaulet
	Commissioner	1880	Active	Attained by promotion to reserved appointment	Crest with laurel leaves above bar with another bar above the “S” upon burgundy epaulet
	Colonel	1880	Active	Attained by promotion to reserved appointment	Crest above bar with another bar above the “S” upon red epaulet
	Lieutenant Colonel		Active	Attained by promotion to reserved appointment	Crest above bar upon red epaulet
	Brigadier	1880	Discontinued (1970s)	After 35 years of service	Two stars and a Crest upon a red epaulet
	Major	1879	Active	After 15 years of service	Crest upon red epaulet
	Captain	1877	Active	After 5 years of service	Two stars upon red epaulet
	Auxiliary Captain		Active	Officers who are beyond the minimum age for training. Replaces Lieutenant and Cadet	Blank red epaulet
	Lieutenant	1879	Discontinued (2001) Reinstated (2008)	First commission upon graduation from Training College	One star upon red epaulet
	Cadet Lieutenant		Active	This rank is rare; given to a cadet who is sent into the field as an officer before graduating training.	Two red bars upon blue epaulet (UK - Black epaulet)
	2nd Year Cadet	1880	Active	After completion of first year of training	Two red bars upon blue epaulet (UK - Black epaulet)
	1st Year Cadet	1880	Active	After starting training	One red bar upon blue epaulet (UK - Black epaulet)
	Envoy/Auxiliary Lieutenant		Active	A non-commissioned officer who works for the Salvation Army in a ministry position	Varies by territory
	Sergeant		Active	A non-commissioned officer who works for the Salvation Army in a ministry position in the Southern Territory	Three white chevrons upon blue epaulet
	Soldier		Active	After signing the Soldier's Covenant	Blank blue epaulet
Other notable ranks
Epaulet	Rank	Description			Insignia
	Corps Sergeant Major	The Lead local officer			Blank blue epaulet
	Young People's Sergeant Major	Responsible for the youth programs of a corps			Blank blue epaulet
	Bandmaster	In charge of the corps band			Two white bars upon blue epaulet
	Songster Leader	In charge of the corps songsters			Two yellow bars upon blue epaulet