Indian Army Insignias

 

Army insignias are used to denote the rank of the soldier and an officer. A soldier commands respect and authority both within army and outside among civilians as per their rank.

The hierarchy within Army is depicted beautifully with gradual addition of the three basic insignias used in the Army. These are:

1.    Baton & Sword: It exemplifies the warrior and the leader for the soldier wearing it. Their skill in using the weapon and ability to perform their duty as part of the fighting unit is signified with this insignia.

2.    Star: This is used for JCOs today to signify the achievement of showing the proficiency in using weapons and merit achieved in officer training. It signifies leadership ability too and ability to inspire others.

3.    Ashoka emblem: This is the seal of the Government of India. It signifies the authority and leadership ability.

     Below figure shows the arrangement of the above three insignias for the officers in the Indian army.

We can see that from the rank of Lieutenant which one gets after passing out from training to the rank of the General, the insignias not only signify the rank but also the kind of responsibility and duty being performed by the officer.

The General has the highest authority within Indian Army and carries Ashoka Emblem with red border. A star to signify the exemplary leadership ability and achievements on battlefield and during training. The sword and baton with red border signifies the highest in chain of command and ability to use the weapons during war.

Here Brigadier is a one star general, Major General is a two star general and Lieutenant General is a three star general. Army General is a four star general with the highest rank.

All these insignias, when you look at the history, have a strong commonality with British Army insignia which use Crown in place of the Ashoka Emblem. This impact of the British Army is felt on other commonwealth nations like Australia, Egypt and even Pakistan.

With independence the only change that has been done is in the seal of the Government of India. But this does not correlate to the way our officers fight and lead the Jawans and other NCOs in battlefield. For example, Major does not sit in office and just use authority during an operation. He/She leads from the front showing the maximum prowess in using the weapon systems and able to design and execute tactics under fire. So using the Ashoka emblem as the rank insignia and that too only that one is not in sync with the duties and responsibilities of a Major.

Taking it further there are following reasons to completely change or rearrange the insignias in Indian Army:

1.    They are closely related to a colonial army of the British. No significant changes have been done after independence even though NCOs and JCOs fight shoulder to shoulder in a battlefield.

2.    The duty of officers is not just to delegate and command but to set an example and lead from the front. Now NCO’s are not in the front but in the back or along a Major/Lieutenant Colonel in an operation.

3.    So using a star on a Lieutenant after completion of training does not signify any battlefield achievement, but instead an insignia which signifies prowess in fighting and leading should be used.

4.    A star should be used to signify the ability to lead and having achieved on battlefield so that just the presence inspires the junior soldiers.

5.    Similarly the higher positions have more office work with significant emphasis on authority, leadership and duty involves taking decisions on Policy and Strategy.

6.    If we correlate the three insignia with aspects of duty and decision making:

a.    Ashoka Emblem: Policy

b.    Star: Strategy

c.     Baton and Sword: Tactics

In the spirit of the above thoughts we get the concrete picture of how the insignias should be in present Indian Army:

 

Summary

1.    Lieutenant has just passed training showing the basic ability to lead and skills in using weapon systems. So a single insignia with appropriate border colour would appropriately denote the rank and duty of the officer.

2.    Captain would have gained more experience and sharpened the edge further on the battlefield and more advanced training. So a pair of crossed baton & sword insignias should be appropriate.

3.    Major would have executed successful tactical operations and gained maximum prowess among the three lower JCO ranks to justify the three insignias of crossed baton & sword. This is more appropriate than just using the Ashoka Emblem. Major is not having mere authority and spends more time on the field than in office authorizing new operations or logistical moves.

4.    Lieutenant Colonel just by the presence inspires the regiment and as 2IC leads in the absence of the Colonel (on leave). So now a star replaces the crossed baton & sword insignia.

5.    Colonel should have two stars and a single crossed baton & sword insignia. This justifies the inspirational leadership and achievements gained in long tenure with the IA. He/She might take part in battlefield operations but is more valuable to the regiment. Colonel selects the tactics and is responsible for logistics of the operations. Also the deployment is wherever the regiment is deployed with authority to signify that, and not merely a paper authority.

6.    Brigadier is the first one-star general. So a single star should be used as insignia along with using the Ashoka Emblem to signify the authority over the brigade. He/She is selecting the strategy and responsible for logistics of multiple regiments under him/her. The border of insignias can be changed to red to signify the select few who go above a Colonel in IA.

7.    Major General is a two star general so two star insignias should be used along with Ashoka Emblem. The authority of leading a division should be signaled immediately on seeing the uniform the Major General (also called Division General). At present, no emblem is being used which is an odd omission.

8.    Lieutenant General is a three star general and should have all three insignias to signify authority, achievement and prowess in using higher level weapons (missiles, air defense etc.). Here not using three stars as crossed sword & baton is definitely needed as certain weapon systems are deployed only under LG orders at Corps level or division level. Also keeping the total number of insignias to below 4 on each shoulder.

9.    Army General is a four star general with control and authority over all the weapon systems along with a hidden strategic weapon systems. He guides the Raksha Mantri and coordinates the executions of weapon systems with maximum offensive & defensive capability. So using a new insignia of LIGHTNING only for the general should be appropriate.

10.  Creating new insignias has been avoided largely as Indian Military values tradition and ethos built over lifetime since inception.