Brigadier

 ( Military Ranks ) 

File:Angola-Army-OF-7.svg|Brigadeiro
(Angolan Army) File:Bundesheer - Rank insignia - Brigadier.png|Brigadier
(Austrian Land Forces) File:blank.svg|Brigadeiro
(Cape Verdean National Guard) File:Norway-army-OF-6.svg|Brigader
(Norwegian Army) File:blank.svg|Brigadeiro
(Army of São Tomé and Príncipe) File:18-Slovenian Army-BG.svg|Brigadir
(Slovenian Ground Force) File:CHE OF6 Br.svg|Brigadier
(Swiss Army)

The rank is used by the British Army, the Royal Marines, the Australian Army, the Bangladesh Army, the Indian Army, the Sri Lankan Army, the New Zealand Army, the Pakistan Army and several others. Although it is not always considered a general officer rank, it is always considered equivalent to the brigadier general and brigade general rank of other countries. In NATO forces, brigadier is OF-6 on the rank scale.

"The grade of brigadier-general, also called, almost interchangeably, brigadier, first appeared in the British army during the reign of King James II. A warrant of 1705 placed the grade directly below major-general, but the appointment was always considered temporary and not continuous. The British were ambiguous over whether the holder was considered a general officer or a senior field grade office". The Brigade: A History: Its Organization and Employment in the US Army, Chapter 1, Brigades in the Continental Army, Brigades and Brigadier-Generals, pp. 8-9. [2] . Retrieved 21 December 2016.

The title is derived from the equivalent British rank of brigadier-general, used until 1922 and still used in many countries. "Brigadier" was already in use as a generic term for a commander of a brigade irrespective of specific rank. Until the rank was dissolved in 1922, brigadier-generals wore a crossed sword and baton symbol on its own.

From 1922 to 1928, the British rank title used was that of colonel-commandant, with one crown and three 'pips', a rank which, although reflecting its modern role in the British Army as a senior colonel rather than a junior general, was not well received and was replaced with brigadier after six years. Colonel-commandant was only ever used for officers commanding brigades, depots or training establishments. Officers holding equivalent rank in administrative appointments were known as "colonels on the staff", also replaced by brigadier in 1928. Colonel-commandants and colonels on the staff wore the same rank badge later adopted by brigadiers."New Army Rank of Brigadier", The Times, 23 December 1997.

Until shortly after World War II, brigadier was an appointment conferred on colonels (as commodore was an appointment conferred on naval captains) rather than a substantive rank.

In Commonwealth countries, and most Arabic language-speaking countries (in which the rank is called عميد, ), the rank insignia comprises a crown (or some other national symbol) with three stars (sometimes called "pips") which are often arranged in a triangle. A brigadier's uniform may also have red . It is otherwise similar to that of a colonel (a colonel's rank insignia having a crown/emblem with two stars or "pips".)

The Canadian Army used the rank of brigadier (following British tradition, with identical insignia) until the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968. The rank then became brigadier-general with the insignia of St. Edward's Crown surmounting a crossed sword and baton over one gold maple leaf.

However, both the Argentine and Brazilian Air Forces use a curious system of variations on brigadier for all (Argentina) or most (Brazil) general officers. The origin of this system is not entirely clear, but in the case of Argentina may be due to army air units being commanded by brigade generals before the establishment of the Air Force as an independent armed force.