17th century–1802 at the
Battle of Culloden in 1746 Until the introduction of sergeant majors early in the eighteenth century, the only NCOs were sergeants and corporals. In the second half of the 17th century sergeants and corporals were distinguished by wearing coats
laced with silver of various widths and silver bands and edging on their hats, whilst officers wore
gorgets,
sashes and other ornamentation. NCOs were also distinguishable by their weaponry. Sergeants carried
halberts, corporals generally carried
muskets, and those in the foot guards carried
poleaxes. Drum majors had the standing of a sergeant but only counted as a drummer in the establishment. In contrast to NCOs, soldiers did not wear any particular insignia of rank. Instead, infantry soldiers wore
red coats and white
lace with coloured lines or geometric patterns known as 'regimental lace'. The pattern of the lace and the
colour of the facings of the coat served to distinguish the different regiments. Corporals wore a white worsted shoulder knot on the right shoulder. A sergeant's buttonholes were looped with white braid and their hat laced with silver. Sergeants were to carry a halbert (in contrast to battalion officers who carried an
espontoon). NCOs in
flank companies and the
fusiliers wore their epaulettes on both arms above their wings. NCOs in the 3rd Guards had worn epaulettes since 1768 and this was evident in all three regiments of foot guards by 1792.
1802–1881 The need to easily recognise NCOs in battle and the growth in the number of ranks over the course of the previous century, each requiring a costly uniform reflecting their rank, led to the creation of a simplified system of cheaply made and easily recognised rank marks for the infantry. Sergeant majors were to wear a four-bar chevron of silver, gilt or white lace; quartermasters a four-bar white chevron; and sergeants a three-bar white chevron. Corporals wore a two-bar chevron made of the regimental lace, and chosen men wore a one-bar chevron of regimental lace. The foot guards wore gilt chevrons. Sergeants were to continue wearing a crimson worsted sash with a central stripe in the facing colours appropriate to their regiment. But when officers began to wear their sashes over the left shoulder in 1855, NCOs followed but over the right shoulder to avoid confusion. Four classes of
schoolmaster were created in 1854 with the insignia of stars. The first class ranked as warrant officers and were senior to the sergeant-major; the second and third classes ranked as staff sergeants, below a sergeant major; and the fourth class was made up of assistant schoolmasters with the rank of sergeant. They wore a blue
frock coat and gold shoulder knots, a sword and crimson sash, and a cap with a scarlet band and a crown in gold thread. The first, second and third classes wore three, two and one gold stars respectively on their collars, and the fourth class ranking as a sergeant wore neither the collar star, shoulder knots, nor crown on their cap, and wore a silk girdle rather than a sash. However, these ranks and their insignia were short-lived, as in 1863 the four classes were reduced to the two categories of superintending schoolmaster (with the commissioned officer rank of
ensign) and schoolmaster (with the rank of staff sergeant and the accompanying chevrons). Troop quartermaster sergeants were introduced to the cavalry of the line in 1856 with the insignia of a four-bar chevron. At this point troop sergeant majors, who had hitherto worn the four bar-chevron, adopted a three-bar chevron below a crown. In 1861 the category of staff sergeant was separated into two classes: first and second. However, these categories did not replace ranks. In 1879 the historic title of
conductor, which had fallen into disuse early in the 19th century, was recreated with the positions of conductor of supplies (in the
Commissariat and Transport Corps) and conductor of stores (in the
Ordnance Store Corps) at the recreated rank of warrant officer. They did not have a badge of rank but wore a different uniform to other ranks. and in 1902 khaki
service dress was adopted, with badges of rank to be worn on both arms on service dress from 1904. By 1907, both brass and
worsted badges of rank were being worn on service dress. Army order 323 of October 1913 reorganised infantry battalions from eight companies to four, leaving two colour sergeants in each new company. In 1914, the senior of the pair was appointed to the new infantry position of company sergeant major and the junior to that of company quartermaster sergeant. Their badge of rank was an imperial crown, whilst those warrant officers, class II, who had formerly worn the crown were ordered to wear the crown in a wreath, the same badge worn by WOII quartermaster sergeants. The rank of WOIII was placed in suspension in 1940, and in 1947 WOII ranks were ordered to return the their pre-1938 badges of rank. It returned to a Tudor Crown design with the accession of
Charles III in 2022 and was rolled out on British Army uniforms from 2023. The grades of lance sergeant and lance corporal were not ranks but appointments, held by selected corporals and privates, and usually carrying extra pay. The appointment was made by the man's commanding officer and could be taken away by him for disciplinary reasons, unlike full sergeants and corporals who could only be demoted by order of a court martial. In 1961 the ranks of lance corporal and lance bombardier were made substantive ranks rather than appointments, whilst the appointment of lance sergeant was discontinued in 1946, except in the
Foot Guards and
Honourable Artillery Company (and its equivalent, lance corporal of horse, in the
Household Cavalry). The regimental sergeant major for the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was retitled academy sergeant major (AcSM) in 1960 and made one of the most senior warrant officer appointments, with the badge of the royal arms in a laurel wreath. The appointment of Royal Artillery sergeant major was established in 1989, senior to other master gunners, and their badge of appointment is the royal arms above a gun and within a laurel wreath. In 2011 the badge of appointment for the garrison sergeant major London district changed from the royal arms to the royal arms on a four-bar chevron, as it had been before 1882. The appointment of army sergeant major was made in 2015, with the royal arms in a large oakleaf wreath as their insignia.
Spelling The spelling
serjeant is sometimes seen. This was the official spelling in the British Army and Royal Marines, although not the Royal Air Force, until the 1930s and appeared in such publications as King's Regulations and the
Pay Warrant, which defined the various ranks. In common usage, the modern spelling
sergeant was already more usual, as in the volumes of the Official History which began to appear in the 1920s.
Serjeant-at-Arms is a title still held by members of the security staff in the
Houses of Parliament. The old spelling is also retained by
The Rifles, as successor to the
Royal Green Jackets and
The Light Infantry, which also used it.
Historical ranks • Sergeant-major: equivalent to the current
regimental sergeant major, a
warrant officer class 1 • Company sergeant-major: now an appointment of
warrant officer class 2 • Quartermaster sergeant: can now be a regimental quartermaster sergeant (
warrant officer class 2) or a
company quartermaster sergeant (
staff sergeant). In the technical corps, a WO2 can also be an AQMS (Artificer Quartermaster Sergeant), TQMS (Technical .....), or SQMS (Squadron ... ) • Warrant officer class III: a short-lived rank used between 1938 and 1940, holding the appointment of
platoon sergeant major,
troop sergeant major, or
section sergeant major. • Colour sergeant: gave way to staff sergeant over the years before the First World War although colour sergeant exists today in the
Royal Marines, equivalent to a staff sergeant in the Army, and is still used to refer to all staff sergeants in infantry regiments and the
Honourable Artillery Company. • Lance sergeant: appointment originally given to corporals acting in the rank of sergeant, discontinued in 1946 except in the Foot Guards, Honourable Artillery Company, and some cadet units. • Second corporal: Royal Engineers and Army Ordnance Corps rank until 1920, equivalent to lance-corporal but a substantive instead of an acting rank. • Bombardier: until 1920, when it became equivalent to corporal, a rank in the Royal Artillery equivalent to a second corporal. • Acting bombardier: appointment originally given to a Royal Artillery gunner acting in the rank of bombardier, discontinued in 1918 and replaced by lance-bombardier. • Chosen man: was a rank primarily found in the
Rifle Brigade denoting a marksman and/or leadership material. Became lance corporal in the early 19th century. == Timeline of changes ==