ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Canadian Armed Forces ranks and insignia

Ok kiddo, so you know how in school you have different grades like Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, etc. Well, the Canadian Armed Forces also have different grades or ranks.

The lowest rank is a Private (like how you might have a private toy that only you can play with), and then there's Corporal (like a big brother or sister who helps take care of you), then Master Corporal (like a really cool teacher who knows a lot), and Sergeant (like a super responsible adult who helps lead the group).

After that, there are more fancy sounding ranks like Warrant Officer (like a wise owl who knows a lot about the forest), Lieutenant (like a police officer who helps keep the peace), Captain (like a captain of a ship who is in charge), Major (like a really important leader who knows what they're doing), and Lieutenant Colonel (like a big boss who leads a lot of people).

Lastly, there's Colonel (like a super serious boss who's in charge of a big important place), Brigadier General (like a big boss who leads a lot of Colonels), Major General (like an even bigger boss who leads a lot of Brigadier Generals), Lieutenant General (like a really really big boss who's in charge of a lot of people), and finally the highest rank is General (like a super duper big boss who's in charge of the whole army).

Now, each of these ranks comes with different symbols or badges that they wear on their uniform. This helps us know who is who and who is in charge. For example, a Private might have just one stripe on their arm, while a Lieutenant Colonel might have a whole bunch of different symbols and stripes on their uniform.

So that's a quick explanation of Canadian Armed Forces ranks and insignia, I hope it helped you understand a little better!