Five - star rank Five - star rank is a now widely used term derived from the United States military description for a general or admiral whose badge of rank is designated by five stars . The rank is that of the most senior operational military commanders , and within NATO the rank is designated by the code OF - 10 . Not all armed forces have such a rank , and in those that do the actual insignia of the " five - star ranks " may not contain five stars . For example : the insignia for the French OF - 10 rank " maréchal de france " contains 7 stars ; the insignia for the Portuguese " marechal " contains four gold stars ; and many of the insignia of the ranks in Commonwealth of Nations contain no stars at all . Typically , five - star officers hold the rank of General of the Army , admiral of the fleet , grand admiral , field marshal , " Generalfeldmarschall " , marshal of the Air Force , general of the Air Force , and several other similarly named ranks . Five - star ranks are extremely senior - usually the highest ranks - and thus are very rare ; as an active rank , the position exists only in a minority of countries and is usually held by only a very few officers during wartime . In times of peace , it is usually held only as a ceremonial rank . Despite the rarity and seniority of five - star officers , the leadership of some countries have felt the requirement to propose , and in some cases to adopt , even more senior ranks such as " generalissimo , generalissimus , reichsmarschall " , first marshal of the empire , admiral of the navy , General of the Armies , etc . These ranks are summarized in the highest military ranks article . Only one Australian born officer ( Sir Thomas Blamey ) has held a substantive Australian five - star rank ( field marshal ) . HM King George VI and HRH Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh have held all three Australian five - star ranks in an honorary capacity , and have been the only holders of the Australian ranks of admiral of the fleet and marshal of the RAAF . Indian five - star ranks . Around 1998 , the Indian Air Force introduced gorget patches ( or collar tabs ) for its air officer s . For marshals of the Indian Air Force ( to date only Arjan Singh has attained this rank ) , the patches display five stars . The following ranks have never been awarded : Polish five - star ranks . Marshal of Poland ( " Marszałek Polski " ) is a Polish Army five - star rank . There are today no living marshals of Poland , since this rank is bestowed only on military commanders who have achieved victory in war . Spanish five - star ranks . These ranks have been reserved for the reigning Monarchy of Spain . UK five - star ranks . The insignia of British five - star commanders usually do not contain stars . An exception to this is the vehicle star plate , mounted on the front of a staff car , which displays five stars . Promotion to the ranks of admiral of the fleet and marshal of the Royal Air Force is now generally held in abeyance in peacetime with exceptions for special circumstances . Promotion to the rank of field marshal was generally stopped in 1995 as a cost - cutting measure but also allowed for possible exceptions . The most recent appointments to one or more five - star ranks are the promotions in 2012 of The Prince of Wales to honorary five - star rank in all three services , and of former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank to the honorary rank of field marshal . US five - star ranks . Five - star ranks were created in the U . S . military during World War II because of the awkward situation created when some American senior commanders were placed in positions commanding allied officers of higher rank . U . S . officers holding five - star rank never retire ; they draw full active duty pay for life . The five - star ranks were retired in 1981 on the death of General Omar Bradley . Nine Americans have been promoted to five - star rank , one of them , Henry H . Arnold , in two services . As part of the bicentennial celebration , George Washington was , 177 years after his death , permanently made superior to any other five - star general / admiral , with the title " General of the Armies " , effective on July 4 , 1776 .