This has continued into the modern age, with rear admiral the most junior admiralty of many navies.
[1] Since the mid-1990s, the insignia of a Royal Australian Navy rear admiral is the Crown of St. Edward above a crossed sword and baton, above two silver stars, above the word "Australia".
[citation needed] The rank insignia for a rear-admiral is two silver maple leaves beneath a silver crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St Edward's Crown, worn on gold shoulder boards on the white short-sleeved shirt or the tropical white tunic.
Like most Commonwealth navies, the rear admiral rank is superior to commodore and captain.
[citation needed] The highest ordinary rank currently filled in the Royal New Zealand Navy is rear admiral and this is the rank held by the Chief of Navy[5] unless that person is also Chief of Defence Force.
[citation needed] The Royal Navy maintains a rank of rear admiral.
Note that the rank of rear admiral is quite different from the honorary office Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom.