The term originated in the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each naval squadron was assigned an admiral as its head, who commanded from the centre vessel and directed the squadron's activities. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships that bore the brunt of a battle. In the rear of the squadron, a third admiral commanded the remaining ships and, as this section was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of it was typically the most junior. This has continued into the modern age, with rear admiral the most junior admiralty of many navies.
In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral.
Since the mid-1990s, the insignia of a Royal Australian Navy rear admiral is the Crown of St. Edward above a crossed sword and baton, above two silver stars, above the word "Australia". Like the Royal Navy version, the sword is a traditional naval cutlass. The stars have eight points, unlike the four pointed Order of the Bath stars used by the army (which are often referred to as "pips"). Prior to 1995, the RAN shoulder board was identical to the Royal Navy shoulder board. The Royal Navy shoulder board changed again in 2001 and the Australian and UK shoulder boards are now identical except for the word "Australia".[2]
Rear Admiral Robyn WalkerAM,RAN became the first female admiral in the Royal Australian Navy when she was appointed Surgeon-General of the Australian Defence Force on 16 December 2011.[3]
The rank insignia for a rear-admiral is two silver maple leaves beneath a silver crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St Edward's Crown, worn on gold shoulder boards on the white short-sleeved shirt or the tropical white tunic. The service dress features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff and, since June 2010,[4] above it a narrower strip of gold braid embellished with the executive curl. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves.[citation needed]
Canadian rear admiral shoulder board and sleeve insignia (since June 2010).
A rear admiral in the Pakistani Navy is a senior and two-star rank naval officer, appointed in higher naval commands. Like most Commonwealth navies, the rear admiral rank is superior to commodore and captain. However, the rank is junior to the three-star rank vice-admiral and four-star rank admiral, who is generally a Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy.[citation needed]
The rank of schout-bij-nacht originated between the 15th and 16th century. Interpreted as "watch-at-night", the schout-bij-nacht was the officer who supervised the ship when the captain was asleep.
In later times the schout-bij-nacht was also the officer who supervised an entire naval squadron, in the absence of a senior admiral, and by the 17th century schout-bij-nacht was the common rank held by the naval commander of a battle fleet's rear squadron.
In the 17th century the navies of Sweden and Denmark-Norway adopted the rank as schoutbynacht and the early Imperial Russian Navy as шаутбенахт ("shautbenakht"). In 1724 the Russians, followed in 1771 by both the Swedish Navy and the Dano-Norwegian Navy changed the name of the rank to the originally German counter admiral (контр-адмирал in Russian, konteramiral in Swedish, kontreadmiral in Danish and Norwegian).
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has two ranks with the title of rear admiral: rear-admiral (one-star), a one-star rank; and rear-admiral (two-star), a two-star rank.
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) The Maple Leaf/La Feuille d'érable – no. 13 vol.18
^"BADGES OF RANK". Official Jamaica Defence Force Website. 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
^"Badges of Rank". nzdf.mil.nz. New Zealand Defence Force. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
^Smaldone, Joseph P. (1992). "National Security". In Metz, Helen Chapin (ed.). Nigeria: a country study. Area Handbook (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. pp. 296–297. LCCN92009026. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
^"LIFE IN PN:RANKS". www.paknavy.gov.pk. Pakistan Navy Official Website. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
^"SAF Rank Insignias". mindef.gov.sg. Ministry of Defence (Singapore). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
^"Rank Insignia". navy.mil.za. Department of Defence (South Africa). Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
Canadian rear admiral shoulder board and sleeve insignia (since June 2010).
Uniform shirts
CADPAT uniform
![Rear admiral (Royal Australian Navy)[8]](/en/File:Australia-Navy-OF-7-collected.svg)
![Rear admiral (Bangladesh Navy)[9]](/en/File:12.BNF-VADM.svg)
_OF-7.svg){kind=small}
![Rear admiral (Indian Navy)[11]](/en/File:12-Indian_Navy-RADM.svg){kind=small}
![Rear admiral (Irish: Seachaimiréal) (Irish Naval Service)[12]](/en/File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O9.svg)
![Rear admiral (Royal New Zealand Navy)[14]](/en/File:RNZN-SHOULDER-OF07.png){kind=small}
![Rear admiral (Nigerian Navy)[15]](/en/File:Nigeria-Navy-OF-7.svg)
![Rear admiral (Urdu: بحریہ کا امیر, romanized: Bahriyah ka ameer) (Pakistan Navy)[16]](/en/File:Pakistan-Navy-OF-7-collected.svg)
![Rear admiral (Republic of Singapore Navy)[17]](/en/File:09-RSN-OF07.svg)
![Rear admiral (South African Navy)[18]](/en/File:SA-Navy-OF-7.svg){kind=small}
![Rear admiral (Sri Lanka Navy)[19]](/en/File:13-Sri_Lanka_Navy-RADM.svg){kind=small}
![Rear admiral (Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard)[20]](/en/File:Trinidad-%26-Tobago-Navy-OF-7.svg){kind=small}
![Rear admiral (Royal Navy)[21]](/en/File:British_Royal_Navy_OF-7-collected.svg)
![Rear admiral (United States Navy)[22]](/en/File:US_Navy_O8_insignia.svg)
![Rear admiral (United States Coast Guard)[22]](/en/File:USCG_O-8_insignia.svg)
