Warrant Officer ( United Kingdom ) In the British Armed Forces , a warrant officer is the highest non - commissioned rank ( however , they are not technically non - commissioned officer s , but an additional rank structure above Senior NCOs ) , holding the Queen ' s ( or King ' s ) warrant , which is signed by the Secretary of State for Defence . Warrant officers are not saluted , but are to be addressed as ' Sir / Ma ' am ' by subordinates . Their seniors may address Warrant Officers either by their appointment ( e . g . QMSI , RSM or Sergeant Major ) or as " Mister , Mrs or Ms " and then their last name , e . g . " Mr Smith " . Warrant officers have all been promoted from NCO rank . Royal Navy . In 1973 , warrant officers reappeared in the Royal Navy , but these appointments followed the Army model , with the new warrant officers being ratings rather than officers . They were initially known as Fleet Chief Petty Officer s ( FCPOs ) , but were renamed Warrant Officers in the 1980s . They always ranked with Warrant Officers Class I in the British Army and Royal Marines and with Warrant Officers in the Royal Air Force . In April 2004 , the RN renamed the top rate Warrant Officer Class 1 ( WO1 ) and created the new rate of Warrant Officer Class 2 ( WO2 ) immediately below it , to replace the appointment of Charge Chief Petty Officer . The latter was a senior Chief Petty Officer , but not a substantive rank in its own right . Only those who held the specific appointment of Charge Chief Artificer ( a CCPO in a skilled technical trade ) gained partial recognition as NATO OR - 8 equivalent , as with WO2s . In the Fleet Air Arm , the Charge Chief Artificer was commonly referred to as the Senior Maintenance Rating ( SMR ) but continued to wear the traditional badges of the CPO which made it difficult to distinguish his seniority from the others on a Squadron or ship . With the advent of the WO2 the SMR is now referred to as the Warrant Officer Engineering on most Naval Squadrons . Royal Navy warrant rates are thus now the same as those in the Army and Royal Marines , and wear the same rank insignia . Like RM WO2s ( but unlike Army WO2s ) , all RN WO2s wear the crown - in - wreath variation of the rank insignia . In 2005 , the Royal Navy introduced the appointment of Executive Warrant Officer ( EWO ) equivalent to that of the US Navy ' s Command Master Chief Petty Officer ( CMCPO ) . The position of EWO is potentially filled by an established WO1 however significant numbers of ' first appointment ' WO1s have taken up these posts . This fact is at odds with the relative comparison with other military forces and their " senior " cadres . The appointment as EWO on a non - capital ship will automatically mean that the incumbent is the senior non - commissioned Rank of the ship as there are no other WO1s borne in the ship ' s company . This is not the case on ships such as aircraft carriers where up to nine WO1s are borne during non - Operational deployments . Equally , the same situation applies to RN Dockyards , shore based establishments and Royal Naval Air Stations where the majority of WO1s are borne . Unlike its US Navy and Canadian Forces counterparts , the Royal Navy EWO " does not " wear a different or modified rate badge to that of a normal WO1 . Every Royal Navy establishment and ship has an EWO . Royal Marines . Before 1879 , the Royal Marines had no warrant officers : by the end of 1881 , the Royal Marines had given warrant rank to their sergeants - major and some other senior NCOs , in a similar fashion to the Army . When the Army introduced the ranks of Warrant Officer Class I and Class II in 1915 , the Royal Marines did the same shortly after . From February 1920 , Royal Marines Warrant Officer Class Is were given the same status as Royal Navy Warrant Officers and the rank of Warrant Officer Class II was abolished in the Royal Marines , with no further promotions to this rank . The Marines had introduced warrant officers equivalent in status to the Royal Navy ' s from 1910 with the Royal Marines Gunner ( originally titled Gunnery Sergeant - Major ) , equivalent to the Navy ' s warrant rank of Gunner . Development of these ranks closedly paralleled that of their naval counterparts : as in the RN , by the Second World War there were Warrant Officers and Commissioned Warrant Officers , e . g . Staff Sergeant Major s , Commissioned Staff Sergeant Majors , Royal Marines Gunners , Commissioned Royal Marines Gunners , etc . As officers they were saluted by junior ranks in the Royal Marines and the Army . These all became ( commissioned ) Branch officer ranks in 1949 , and Special Duties officer ranks in 1956 . The Royal Marines now has the same warrant ranks as the Army , Warrant Officer Class 1 and Warrant Officer Class 2 . The insignia are the same , but all RM WO2s wear the crown - in - wreath variation . As in the Army , all warrant officers have appointments by which they are known , referred to and addressed . WO2 appointments are : WO1 appointments are : The rank below WO2 is Colour Sergeant , the RM equivalent of Staff Sergeant . British Army . In the British Army , there are two warrant ranks , Warrant Officer Class 2 ( WO2 ) and Warrant Officer Class 1 ( WO1 ) , the latter being the senior of the two . It used to be more common to refer to these ranks as WOII and WOI ( using Roman instead of Arabic numerals ) . Warrant Officer 1st Class or 2nd Class is incorrect . The rank immediately below WO2 is Staff Sergeant ( or Colour Sergeant ) . WO1s wear a royal coat of arms on the lower sleeve , except for the Regimental Sergeants Major of Foot Guards Regiments who wear a larger version of the same coat of arms on the upper sleeve . The insignia of those holding the most senior WO1 appointment of Conductor is the coat of arms surrounded by a wreath . The four most senior warrant officer appointments in the British Army according to Queen ' s Regulations are , in descending order of seniority : Appointments . Every warrant officer has an appointment , and is usually referred to by his appointment rather than by his rank . Appointments held by WO1s include : WO2s wear a crown on the lower sleeve , surrounded by a wreath for Quartermaster Sergeants and all WO2s in the Royal Army Medical Corps and the 9 / 12th Royal lancers ( P . O . W . s ) ( The wreath was used for all WOIIs from 1938 to 1947 ) . Appointments held by WO2s include : From 1938 , there was also a rank of Warrant Officer Class III ( WOIII ) . The only appointments held by this rank were Platoon Sergeant Major , Troop Sergeant Major and Section Sergeant Major . The WOIII wore a crown on his lower sleeve ( which is why all WOIIs switched to a crown in a wreath during this period ) . The rank was placed in suspension in 1940 and no new appointments were made , but it was never officially abolished . Forms of Address . How warrant officers are addressed depends , as does much else in the British Army , on the traditions of their regiment or corps . However , there are some general rules of thumb : Royal Air Force . The Royal Air Force inherited the ranks of Warrant Officer Class I and II from the Royal Flying Corps , part of the Army , in 1918 . It also inherited the rank badges of the Royal Arms and a crown respectively . Until the 1930s , these ranks were often known as Sergeant Major 1st and 2nd Class . In 1939 , the RAF abolished the rank of WOII and retained WOI as simple Warrant Officer , which it remains to this day . The RAF has no equivalent to WO2 ( NATO OR - 8 ) , WO being equivalent to WO1 ( NATO OR - 9 ) and wearing the Royal Arms . Warrant officers are addressed as Warrant Officer or sometimes this is abbreviated down to just " Warrant " . The correct way to address a Warrant Officer is " sir " or " ma ' am " by the airmen and " Mr or Warrant Officer - Name - " by the officers . They do not have appointments as in the Army or Royal Marines . They rank above Flight Sergeant s . In 1946 the RAF renamed its aircrew warrant officers Master Aircrew , a designation which still survives . In 1950 , it renamed warrant officers in technical trades Master Technicians , a designation which only survived until 1964 . Cadet organisations . Sea Cadet Corps ( Navy ) . An eligible CPO ( SCC ) or C / Sgt ( SCC ) may apply for a Warrant Officer ' s Selection Board ( WOSB ) at national level , providing he or she meet the necessary requirements . Upon successful completion of this board , a CPO ( SCC ) will be rated WO2 ( SCC ) RNR , or a C / Sgt ( SCC ) will be promoted to WO2 ( SCC ) RMR . SCC WOs are permitted to use the postnominals RNR / RMR . Each area may select one WO from its pool of WO2 ( SCC ) RNR / RMRs , to undertake the role of Area Executive Warrant Officer ( AEWO ) , and with that responsibility be rated WO1 ( SCC ) RNR / RMR . In addition the Marine Cadet Section was an RSM , who is also a WO1 ( SCC ) RMR . Army Cadet Force and Combined Cadet Force ( Army ) . The rank of warrant officer does not exist in the ACF and CCF ( Army ) - it is often misused by those holding appointments as Sergeants Major or Sergeants Major Instructor ( either Cadets or AIs ) in the CCF ( Army ) and ACF who are not holders of Warrants and thus not Warrant Officers . Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force ( RAF ) . The Air Cadet Organisation has a single Cadet Warrant Officer rank in the same way as the RAF - they are always addressed as " Warrant Officer " , " Warrant " , " CWO " or " Cadet Warrant Officer " ( Warrant Officer is the correct form of address ) , and not as " Sir / Ma ' am " . ATC Adult staff promoted to Warrant Officer have the title WO ( ATC ) , and are addressed in the same way as regular RAF Warrant Officers - i . e . as ' sir ' by subordinates and as Mr / Mrs / Miss by Officers . Officers may choose to call them by their rank , e . g . Warrant Officer Matthews ( or Warrant Matthews ) , assuming the Warrant Officer has a surname of Matthews . Both types wear a crown as insignia , rather than the royal coat of arms — the insignia for a Cadet WO has a laurel wreath to distinguish it from WO ( ATC ) . Some WOs ( ATC ) are authorised to wear the coat of arms ( referred to colloquially as " Tate & Lyle s " , either as ex - regular WOs or , in the past , for time served . New WO ' s ( ATC ) having previously served as a WO ( RN , RAF ) or WO1 ( RM , Army ) may wear the Royal Arms upon appointment .