Group Captain Group Captain ( Gp Capt or Grp Cpt in the RAF and Indian Air Force , GPCAPT in the RNZAF and RAAF , G / C in the former RCAF ) is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries . It ranks above Wing Commander and immediately below Air Commodore . The name of the rank is the complete phrase , and is never shortened to " Captain " . It has a NATO ranking code of OF - 5 , and is equivalent to a Captain in the Royal Navy or a Colonel in the British Army or the Royal Marines . Group Captain is the rank usually held by the station commander of a large RAF station . The equivalent rank in the Women ' s Auxiliary Air Force ( WAAF ) , Women ' s Auxiliary Australian Air Force ( WAAAF ) , Women ' s Royal Air Force ( WRAF ) ( until 1968 ) and Princess Mary ' s Royal Air Force Nursing Service ( PMRAFNS ) ( until 1980 ) was Group Officer . The equivalent rank in the Royal Observer Corps ( until 1995 ) was Observer Captain which had a similar rank insignia . Origins . On 1 April 1918 , the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army , with Royal Naval Air Service Captains and Royal Flying Corps Colonels becoming Colonels in the RAF . In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles , it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy ' s officer ranks , with the word " Air " inserted before the naval rank title . For example , the rank that later became Group Captain would have been Air Captain . Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles , it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on Navy officer ranks with differing pre - modifying terms . It was also suggested that RAF Colonels might be titled as Bannerets or Leaders . However , the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and as RAF Colonels typically commanded Groups the rank title Group Captain was chosen . The rank of Group Captain has been used continuously since 1 August 1919 . Use . Although in the early years of the RAF groups were normally commanded by group captains , by the mid - 1920s they were usually commanded by an Air Officer . In the post - World War II period the commander of an RAF flying station or major ground training station has typically been a group captain . In the Air Training Corps , a group captain is the officer commanding of a region . Insignia and command pennant . The rank insignia is based on the four gold bands of Captains in the Royal Navy , comprising four narrow light blue bands over slightly wider black bands . This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform . Group Captains are the first rank in the RAF hierarchy to wear gold braid on the peak of their cap , informally known as ' scrambled egg ' ; however , they still wear the standard RAF officer ' s cap badge . The command pennant for a Group Captain is similar to the one for a Wing Commander except that there is one broad red band in the centre . Only the Wing Commander and Group Captain command pennants are triangular in shape . Other air forces . The rank of Group Captain is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth , including the Bangladesh Air Force , Ghana Air Force , Indian Air Force ( IAF ) , Nigerian Air Force , Pakistan Air Force ( PAF ) , Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) , Royal New Zealand Air Force ( RNZAF ) and the Sri Lankan Air Force . It is also used in the Egyptian Air Force , Hellenic Air Force , Royal Air Force of Oman and the Royal Thai Air Force . The Royal Canadian Air Force used the rank until the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968 , when Army - type rank titles were adopted . A Canadian group captain then became a colonel . In official French Canadian usage , a group captain ' s rank title was " colonel d ' aviation " . The Spanish equivalent rank ( in the Chilean Air Force ) is " Colonel de Aviacion " ( Colonel of Aviation ) , the literal meaning in Spanish of the old Franco - Canadian air rank .