Admiral
The word admiral comes from the Arabic term amir-al-bahr meaning "commander of the seas." Crusaders learned the term during their encounters with the Arabs, perhaps as early as the 11th century. The Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral. The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles. As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained the "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling "admyrall" in the 14th century and to "admiral" by the 16th century.
Royal Navy
King Edward I of England appointed the first English Admiral in 1297 when he named William de Leyburn "Admiral of the sea of the King of England". The rank of Admiral should not be confused with the office of Admiral of England or Lord High Admiral, which was an office held by the person with overall responsibility for the Navy.
The Royal Navy has had Vice and Rear Admirals since at least the 16th century. When in command of the fleet, the Admiral would either be in the lead or the middle portion of the fleet. When the Admiral commanded from the middle portion of the fleet his deputy, the Vice Admiral, would be in the leading portion or van. Below him was another admiral at the rear of the fleet, called Rear Admiral.
In Elizabethan times the fleet grew large enough to be organized into squadrons. The admiral's squadron wore a red ensign, the vice admiral's white, and the rear admiral's blue. As the squadrons grew, each was eventually commanded by an Admiral (with Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals commanding sections) and the official titles became Admiral of the White, etc.
The squadrons ranked in order Red, White and Blue, and admirals ranked according to their squadron:
- Admiral of the Fleet
- Admiral of the White
- Admiral of the Blue
- Vice Admiral of the Red
- Vice Admiral of the White
- Vice Admiral of the Blue
- Rear Admiral of the Red
- Rear Admiral of the White
- Rear Admiral of the Blue
Promotion up the ladder was in accordance with seniority in the rank of post captain, and rank was held for life, so the only way to get promoted was for the person above you on the list to die or resign. Lord Nelson when he died was only Vice Admiral of the White. Another way was to promote unsuccessful captains to the rank of admiral without distinction of squadron (a practice known as yellowing – the unfortunate became known as a yellow admiral).
In the 18th century, the original nine ranks began to be filled by more than one person per rank, although the rank of Admiral of the Red was always filled by only one person and was known as Admiral of the Fleet, but the organisation of the fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864. The Red Ensign was allocated to the Merchant Marine, the White Ensign became the flag of the Royal Navy, and the Blue Ensign was allocated to the naval reserve and naval auxiliary vessels.
The current ranks are Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral and Admiral of the Fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known as Flag Officers, are entitled to fly a personal flag. An Admiral of the Fleet flies a Union Flag at the masthead, while an Admiral flies a St George's cross (red cross on white). Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals fly a St George's cross differenced with one and two red balls in the hoist respectively.
The rank of Commodore in the Royal Navy is not considered a flag rank, and Commodores fly swallow-tailed pennants bearing the cross of St George and a single red ball in the upper hoist. Instead of being referred to as flying their flag, Commodores fly their broad pennant.
In 1996, the rank of Admiral of the Fleet was put in abeyance in peacetime, except for members of the Royal family. However, Admirals of the Fleet promoted before 1996 continue to hold their rank on the active list for life.
See also
