TNG Admirals

In the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation the Starfleet admirals did not have the boxed pips but an insignia above their pips. In the Star Trek Encyclopedia it is said that the more pips below the flag insignia the higher the rank.

Three Admirals with the early insignia.

However I disagree because this doesn’t reflect the person’s powers in my eyes. In “Coming of Age” admiral Quinn offers captain Picard to make him the Starfleet Academy Commandant. As Rear Admiral lower half I doubt he has the power to promote Picard to the same rank. (In DS9: “Paradise Lost” the Academy Commandant even is a rear admiral upper half.)

I tend to believe that the admiral insignias do reflect British naval tradition where more discs on an Admiral’s flag denote a lower rank.

Alternate rank scheme

With this scheme the ranks of the seen admirals would be as the following:

• Admiral Gregory Quinn (rather than Rear Admiral lower half)
• Admiral Mark Jameson (rather than Rear Admiral lower half)
• Vice Admiral Savar (rather than Rear Admiral upper half)
• Rear Admiral Aaron (rather than Vice Admiral)

External Links

Also see Royal Navy rank flags at Flags Of The World.