Flight sergeant (commonly abbreviated toFlt Sgt,F/Sgt,FSGT or, currently correctly in the RAF,FS^[1]) is a seniornon-commissioned rank in theRoyal Air Force^[2] and several otherair forces which have adopted all or part of the RAF rank structure. It is equivalent to astaff sergeant orcolour sergeant in theBritish Army, a colour sergeant in theRoyal Marines, and achief petty officer in theRoyal Navy, and has aNATO rank code of OR-7.^[3] In the RAF, flight sergeant ranks abovechief technician and belowwarrant officer.

The rank was introduced into theRoyal Flying Corps (RFC) in 1912 and passed to the Royal Air Force on its formation in 1918. RFC flight sergeants wore a four-bladed propeller between the chevrons and the crown.

On 1 July 1946,aircrew flight sergeants were redesignatedaircrew I and replaced their chevrons with three six-pointed stars within a wreath and surmounted by an eagle and a crown. This proved unpopular however, and in 1950 they reverted to their old rank and badge, although flight sergeants aircrew wear an eagle between chevrons and crown.

Between 1950 and 1964, the rank of chief technician was equivalent to flight sergeant and was held instead of that rank by technicians, but now chief technician is a junior rank^[4] (still held only by technicians), although classified by NATO in the same grade.

Apart from the RAF, the rank of flight sergeant is also used by manyCommonwealth air forces, including theRoyal Australian Air Force,^[5] theRoyal New Zealand Air Force, theSri Lanka Air Force,^[6] theGhana Air Force,^{[citation needed]} theSouth African Air Force,^[7] theAir Force of Zimbabwe^[8] and theRoyal Thai Air Force.^[9] It was also used in the formerRoyal Rhodesian Air Force. In Canada, since the unification of theCanadian Forces in 1968, this rank has been replaced by warrant officer. It is also used in theIrish Air Corps^{[citation needed]}, where it is equivalent to theIrish Army rank ofcompany sergeant. The flight sergeant rank in theIndian Air Force was replaced with the rank ofjunior warrant officer (JWO)^{[citation needed]}, which ranks below a warrant officer and above a sergeant.

In the RAF, the rank insignia is three downward pointingchevrons below a crown.^[10]

Flight sergeant is also used in manycadet organisations around the world, such as theRoyal Air Force Air Cadets,^[11]Australian Air Force Cadets,^[12] andRoyal Canadian Air Cadets.^[13]

• 
  (Royal Australian Air Force)^[14]
• 
  Sáirsint eitleoige
  (Irish Air Corps)^[15]
• 
  (Kenya Air Force)
• 
  (Nigerian Air Force)
• 
  Flait sarjan
  (Royal Malaysian Air Force)
• 
  (Royal New Zealand Air Force)^[16]
• 
  (South African Air Force)^[17]
• 
  (Sri Lanka Air Force)^[18]
• 
  Sajenti Kuruka
  (Tanzania Air Force)
• 
  (Royal Air Force)^[19]
• 
  (Air Force of Zimbabwe)^[8]

• RAF Other ranks

• Military ranks of the Commonwealth
• Military ranks of Australia
• Military ranks of Canada
• Military ranks of Ireland
• Military ranks of the Royal Air Force
• Air force ranks
• Former military ranks of Canada

• Articles containing Irish-language text
• Articles containing Malay (macrolanguage)-language text
• Articles containing Swahili (macrolanguage)-language text
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2017
• Use British English from June 2017
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2023