The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case. In the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star. In the navies of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Iran, Mexico, North Korea, and Russia, vice admiral insignia involves two stars, and in the navy of Turkey, vice admiral insignia involves four stars.
On the navy blue mess dress jacket and the navy blueservice dress tunic: the cuff insignia is one wide gold braid below two standard size gold braids, the superior one includes the executive curl.
On tropical white mess dress and tropical white service dress tunic: three silver maple leaves, beneath silver crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on gold shoulder boards.
Two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. From 1968 to June 2010, the navy blue service dress tunic featured only a wide gold braid around the cuff with three gold maple leaves, beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on cloth shoulder straps. Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car; the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two. A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, which is held by a full admiral or general. Appointments held by vice-admirals may include:
In France, vice-amiral is the most senior of the ranks in the French Navy; higher ranks, vice-amiral d'escadre and amiral, are permanent functions, style and position given to a vice-amiral-ranking officer. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, but nowadays, it is more an OF-7 rank. The rank of vice-amiral d'escadre equals a NATO OF-8 rank. In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791. The office of "Vice-Admiral of France" was the highest rank, the supreme office of "Admiral of France" being purely ceremonial. Distinct offices were :
1669–1791 Vice-admiral of the West.
1669–1791 Vice-admiral of the East.
1778–1791 Vice-admiral of the Asian and American Seas.
1784–1788 Vice-admiral of the Indian Seas.
Germany
Vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant.
In the Philippines, the rank vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the Flag Officer In-Command of the navy, an equivalent rank of the Chief Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy.
Poland
Before World War II, the vice admiral was the highest rank in the Polish Navy. Jozef Unrug was one of the only two officers to achieve the rank. The other was Jerzy Świrski. Poland had only one sovereign sea port, Port of Gdynia, and was slowly building a small modern navy that was to be ready by 1950. The navy was not a priority for obvious reasons. At present, it is a "two--star" rank. The stars are not used; however, the stars were used in between 1952 and 1956 and are still used in the vice admiral's pennant.
United Kingdom
In the Royal Navy the rank of vice-admiral should be distinguished from the office of "Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom", which is an Admiralty position usually held by a retired "full" admiral, and that of "Vice-Admiral of the Coast", a now obsolete office dealing with naval administration in each of the maritime counties.
In Vietnam, the equivalent to Vice Admiral is the Phó Đô Đốc which is a 2-star rank. It is below the Admiral and above Rear Admiral.
In fiction
Among the several grand admirals appearing in fiction and science fiction, one notable figure is Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp of the One Piecemanga series.
