General of the Army (Spain)

General of the Army General de Ejército
Insignia of Spanish General of the Army.
Uniform shoulder strap of a General of the Army.
Country	Spain
Service branch	Spanish Army
Abbreviation	GA
Rank	Four-star
NATO rank code	OF-9
Formation	19 May 1999
Next higher rank	Captain general of the Army
Next lower rank	Lieutenant general
Equivalent ranks	General of the Air (Air and Space Force) Admiral General (Navy)

General of the Army (Spanish: General de Ejército), also called Army General, is a four-star general officer and the second highest possible rank in the Spanish Army. A General of the Army ranks immediately above a Lieutenant general and is equivalent to an Admiral General and a General of the Air. There is no equivalent in the Civil Guard or in the Spanish Navy Marines; in both cases the top rank is Lieutenant General.

The rank was created in 1999 to adapt the Spanish military ranks to the ranks of NATO^[1] This is the highest rank that a military officer can reach, because the next higher is Captain General and that rank is only reserved to the King or Queen as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces (even that sometimes has been given as an honorary rank to some generals).

The General of the Army insignia consist of a baton crossed over a sabre under a Royal Crown and a star in every angle that form the crossed baton and the sabre. Being under a Crown means that the rank is part of the generalship (the group of generals of the Armed Forces), the baton and the sabre means command and the four stars means the rank of General. This insignia was used before to 1999 by the Head of State as Captain General.^[2]