Vietnamese military ranks and insignia

Vietnamese military ranks and insignia were specified by the National Assembly of Vietnam through the Law on Vietnam People's Army Officer (No: 6-LCT/HĐNN7) on 30 December 1981.^[1][2]

The Vietnam People's Army distinguishes three careerpaths: Officers (sĩ quan), non-commissioned officers (hạ sĩ quan), and enlisted personnel (chiến sĩ).

Because the shoulder insignia of all ranks are represented by an elongated pentagonal epaulette, they are, hence, either detailed or colour-coded to indicate rank, branch, as well as unit.

The shoulder epaulettes from those of enlisted soldiers to field officers are detailed with a silver crest with an encircled silver star. Those of generals and admirals have fully golden epaulettes with corresponding golden crests and encircled stars.

Ranks can show information about branches of military personnel.

The branch colours that form the piping of the shoulder boards are as follows:

• Army (ground forces): red
• Navy: dark blue/navy blue
• Air Force/ Air defence: azure
• Border Defence: green
• Coast Guard: blue

The shoulder insignia ranks are in gold shoulder boards in the Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy.

Border Defense Force's ranks are in dark green shoulder boards with red piping. Coast Guard rank and rating insignia are in blue with gold piping.

Table of ranks[]

Officers[]

The following are rank insignia of commissioned officers of the People's Army.

Rank group	General/flag officers										Field/senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Vietnam People's Ground Force[3] v t
			Đại tướng		Thượng tướng		Trung tướng		Thiếu tướng		Đại tá	Thượng tá	Trung tá		Thiếu tá		Đại úy		Thượng úy		Trung úy		Thiếu úy		Học viên Sĩ quan
Vietnam People's Navy[3] v t
					Đô đốc		Phó Đô đốc		Chuẩn Đô đốc		Đại tá	Thượng tá	Trung tá		Thiếu tá		Đại úy		Thượng úy		Trung úy		Thiếu úy		Học viên Sĩ quan
Vietnam People's Air Force[3] v t
					Thượng tướng		Trung tướng		Thiếu tướng		Đại tá	Thượng tá	Trung tá		Thiếu tá		Đại úy		Thượng úy		Trung úy		Thiếu úy		Học viên Sĩ quan
Vietnam Border Guard[3] v t
							Trung tướng		Thiếu tướng		Đại tá	Thượng tá	Trung tá		Thiếu tá		Đại úy		Thượng úy		Trung úy		Thiếu úy		Học viên Sĩ quan
Vietnam Coast Guard[3] v t
							Trung tướng		Thiếu tướng		Đại tá	Thượng tá	Trung tá		Thiếu tá		Đại úy		Thượng úy		Trung úy		Thiếu úy		Học viên Sĩ quan
Rank group	General/flag officers										Field/senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet

Warrant officers[]

The following are the insignia for warrant officers for the army, navy, air force, border guard and coast guard respectively.

Rank insignia used by warrant officers since 2008 have a pink silk line running along the shoulder board (before 2008 it was a V-shaped chevron) to distinguish them from the officer corps.

Equivalent NATO rank	WO-5		WO-4		WO-3		WO-2		WO-1
Vietnam People's Ground Force v t
	Chief warrant officer (Thượng tá QNCN)		Senior warrant officer (Trung tá QNCN)		Master warrant officer (Thiếu tá QNCN)		First warrant officer (Đại úy QNCN)	Second warrant officer (Thượng úy QNCN)	Third warrant officer (Trung úy QNCN)	Fourth warrant officer (Thiếu úy QNCN)
Vietnam People's Navy v t
	Chief Warrant Officer (Thượng tá QNCN)		Senior Warrant Officer (Trung tá QNCN)		Master Warrant Officer (Thiếu tá QNCN)		First Warrant Officer (Đại úy QNCN)	Second Warrant Officer (Thượng úy QNCN)	Third Warrant Officer (Trung úy QNCN)	Fourth Warrant Officer (Thiếu úy QNCN)
Vietnam People's Air Force v t
	Chief Warrant Officer (Thượng tá QNCN)		Senior Warrant Officer (Trung tá QNCN)		Master Warrant Officer (Thiếu tá QNCN)		First Warrant Officer (Đại úy QNCN)	Second Warrant Officer (Thượng úy QNCN)	Third Warrant Officer (Trung úy QNCN)	Fourth Warrant Officer (Thiếu úy QNCN)
Vietnam Border Guard v t
	Chief Warrant Officer (Thượng tá QNCN)		Senior Warrant Officer (Trung tá QNCN)		Master Warrant Officer (Thiếu tá QNCN)		First Warrant Officer (Đại úy QNCN)	Second Warrant Officer (Thượng úy QNCN)	Third Warrant Officer (Trung úy QNCN)	Fourth Warrant Officer (Thiếu úy QNCN)
Vietnam Coast Guard v t
	Chief Warrant Officer (Thượng tá QNCN)		Senior Warrant Officer (Trung tá QNCN)		Master Warrant Officer (Thiếu tá QNCN)		First Warrant Officer (Đại úy QNCN)	Second Warrant Officer (Thượng úy QNCN)	Third Warrant Officer (Trung úy QNCN)	Fourth Warrant Officer (Thiếu úy QNCN)
Equivalent NATO rank	WO-5		WO-4		WO-3		WO-2		WO-1

Enlisted[]

The following are the rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Vietnam People's Ground Force[3] v t
							Thượng sĩ				Trung sĩ												Hạ sĩ						Binh nhất						Binh nhì
Vietnam People's Navy[3] v t
							Thượng sĩ				Trung sĩ												Hạ sĩ						Binh nhất						Binh nhì
Vietnam People's Air Force[3] v t
							Thượng sĩ				Trung sĩ												Hạ sĩ						Binh nhất						Binh nhì
Vietnam Border Guard[3] v t
							Thượng sĩ				Trung sĩ												Hạ sĩ						Binh nhất						Binh nhì
Vietnam Coast Guard[3] v t
							Thượng sĩ				Trung sĩ												Hạ sĩ						Binh nhất						Binh nhì
Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted

Lapels[]

Level	Ground Forces	Air Force	Navy	Border Guard	Coast Guard	Cyberspace Operations	Mausoleum Defence
Emblem
General Officers
Field Grade Officers Company Grade Officers

Historical ranks[]

Rank group	General/flag officers										Field/senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Vietnam People's Ground Force (1946-1958)
			Colonel general Đại tướng		Lieutenant general Trung tướng		Major general Thiếu tướng				Colonel Đại tá		Lieutenant colonel Trung tá		Major Thiếu tá		Captain Đại úy		Lieutenant Trung úy			Junior lieutenant Thiếu úy			Officer cadet Học viên Sĩ quan
Vietnam People's Ground Force (1960-1992)
			Army general Đại tướng	Colonel general Thượng tướng	Lieutenant general Trung tướng		Major general Thiếu tướng				Senior colonel Đại tá	Colonel Thượng tá	Lieutenant colonel Trung tá		Major Thiếu tá		Captain Đại úy		Senior lieutenant Thượng úy		Lieutenant Trung úy		Junior lieutenant Thiếu úy		Officer cadet Học viên Sĩ quan

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Vietnam People's Ground Force (1960-1992)
							Sergeant Major Thượng sĩ				Sergeant Trung sĩ												Corporal Hạ sĩ						Private First Class Binh nhất						Private Binh nhì

See also[]

• History of Vietnamese military ranks
• Comparative military ranks
• Military rank
• People's Army of Vietnam (Military of Vietnam)
• Vietnam

References[]

External links[]

• (Vietnamese military and police ranks)