Legate is the highest rank in the Cardassian military, approximately equivalent to an Admiral in Starfleet. Many Legates also hold high ranking positions in the Cardassian government (indeed, in Cardassian society prior to the Dominion War, the military basically is the government) but the two are not exactly the same - a Legate can be a purely military position as well as a governmental one.

After the civilian Detapa Council rose to power on Cardassia, Gul Dukat was promoted to the rank of Legate and became chief military advisor to the council. However, Dukat grew dissatisfied with calling himself Legate, and subsequently took to referring to himself as a simple Gul in his later years.