Colour sergeant

Colour sergeant (CSgt or C/Sgt) is a rank of non-commissioned officer found in several armies and marine corps. In the Australian Army, the rank of colour sergeant has only existed in the Corps of Staff Cadets at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Colour sergeant is a rank in the Foot Guards regiments of the Canadian Army, specifically in the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards and also previously in The Canadian Guards. It is the equivalent to warrant officer; a colour sergeant wears the rank insignia of a warrant officer (a royal crown) on all uniforms except No. 1 Ceremonial Dress, on which a special rank badge is worn: three chevrons, point down, surmounted by an image of regimental colours. Canadian colour sergeants are addressed in the same manner as their British counterparts. Colour sergeant (CSgt or C/Sgt) is a non-commissioned title in the Royal Marines and infantry regiments of the British Army, ranking above sergeant and below warrant officer class 2. It has a NATO ranking code of OR-7 and is equivalent to the rank of staff sergeant in other branches of the Army, flight sergeant or chief technician in the Royal Air Force, and chief petty officer in the Royal Navy. The insignia is the monarch's crown above three downward pointing chevrons. The rank was introduced into British Army infantry regiments in 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars to reward long-serving sergeants; a single colour sergeant was appointed to each company as the senior NCO. From 1 October 1913, British infantry battalions were reorganised from eight companies to four, leaving two colour sergeants in each new company. The senior of the pair was appointed to the new rank of company sergeant major and the junior to that of company quartermaster sergeant. Although the rank of colour sergeant was then abolished, the CQMS of an infantry company continued to be generally addressed as "Colour Sergeant" and the rank was later reintroduced, probably during the Second World War, with CQMS becoming an appointment of it.