Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces.

When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field ranks. In some militaries, notably France, the rank is referred to as commandant, while in others it is known as captain-major. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures, such as the New York State Police, New Jersey State Police and several others. As a police rank, Major roughly corresponds to the UK rank of Superintendent.

When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including general-major or major general, denoting a mid-level general officer, and sergeant major, denoting the most senior NCO of a military unit.

It can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as in pipe-major or drum-major.

Links to major ranks by country

• Major (Canada)
• Maggiore (Italy)
• Majuri (Finland)
• Major (Germany)
• Tagmatarchis (Greece)
• Majoras (Lithuania)
• Majoor (the Netherlands)
• Major (Poland)
• Major (Sri Lanka)
• Major (Sweden)
• Major (United Kingdom)
• Major (United States)

Army major insignia

File:Australian-Army-MAJ.gif|Australia File:Army-BEL-OF-03a.svg|Belgium File:Major_EB.gif|Brazil File:CA-Army-OF3.gif|Canada File:Rank insignia of mayor of the Colombian Army.svg|Colombia File:EgyptianArmyInsignia-Major.svg|Egypt File:ES-Army-OF3.gif|Estonia File:OF03 Heer.png|Germany File:Army-GRE-OF-03.svg|Greece File:14 rnagy.png|Hungary File:IFRmajor.PNG|Iceland File:Major-Army-India.jpg|India File:IT-Army-OF3.svg|Italy

File:Nl-landmacht-majoor.svg|Netherlands File:Major Pak Army.jpg|Pakistan File:Army-POL-OF-03.svg|Poland File:RO-Army-OF3.png|Romania File:Major.gif|Russia File:SL-Army-OF3_Major.PNG|Sri Lanka File:ROCA-MAJ.jpg|Republic of China File:UK-Army-OF3-shoulder.svg|United Kingdom File:Army-USA-OF-03.svg|U.S.

Air Force major insignia

File:major fab.gif|Brazil File:RDAF Maj.svg|Denmark File:IT-Airforce-OF-3.png|Italy File:RNAF Maj.svg|Netherlands File:Major Lotnicze.png|Poland File:US Air Force O4 shoulderboard.svg|U.S.

Links to ranks equivalent to major by country

• Jagran ( ) (Afghanistan)
• (Shaoxiao) (PR China)
• Bojnik (Croatia)
• Ra'Ed ( ) (Egypt and most Arab League member countries)
• Commandant (France)
• Tagmatarchis ( ) (Greece & Cyprus)
• rnagy (Hungary)
• Commandant (Ireland)
• Rav seren ( ) (Israel)
• Mayor (Indonesia)
• (Shousa) (Japan)
• (North Korea)
• (South Korea)
• Mejar (Malaysia)
• Sturmbannf hrer (Schutzstaffel and paramilitary organisations of Nazi Germany)
• Comandante (Spain)
• (Shaohsiao) (Republic of China/Taiwan)
• Binba (Turkey)
• Thi u T (Vietnam)
• Major (Serbia)

File:Bojnik.jpg|Croatia (Bojnik) File:IDF rav seren.svg|Rav seren - army (Israel) File:IDF rav seren silver-2.svg|Rav seren - air force (Israel) File:IDF rav seren gold-2.svg|Rav seren - navy (Israel)

See also

• Comparative military ranks

References

External links

• Etymology on line

ar: ( ) az:Mayor bn: bg: bs:Major ca:Major (rang militar) cs:Major da:Major de:Major et:Major el: es:Mayor eo:Majoro fa: ( ) fr:Major ko: hr:Bojnik id:Mayor it:Maggiore he: ' jv:Mayor ku:Serdar ky: lt:Majoras nl:Majoor ja: no:Major nn:Major pl:Major pt:Major ro:Maior (grad militar) ru: simple:Major sk:Major sl:Major sr: sh:Major fi:Majuri sv:Major tr:Binba uk: ur: ( ) vi:Thi u t zh: