proper abbreviation for headquarters?

What is the proper abbreviation for Headquarters? alot of people use HQ but alot of others use HQS. HQS makes alot more sense to me. Such as "American HQs"

What do you think?

 

HQs is proper abbreviation

 

HQ is understood Internationally

 

I've only ever seen HQ

 

If I had to write 'headquarters' I'd use the full word. I'd only abbreviate 'headquarter'. Don't mind me, though. I'm pedantic.

 

HQ - singular
HQs - plural

 

The general rule for abbreviations is that we should use only capital letters. Therefore headquarters should be written as HQ, unless you mean more headquarters; then write "HQs". Small "s" at the end of an abbreviation always denotes a plural form of a thing you have in mind. If you do not follow this rule you may casue a lot of confusion. For example, COS stands for Chief of Staff, unlike COs which means "Commanding Officers" in opposition to CO that is one Commanding Officer. If you want to make COS plural you add one "s" and you get COSs. A simple, consequently used rule makes the military life much easier. I explained the rules in my article about military abbreviations some time ago. Worth reading to survive in plethora of military terms.

 

Actually it all depends on what system or Manual Style (as it's knwon) your city/country abides to. While captial lettering typically doesn't require to diffrentiate between singular and plural. Who says, USsA? Abbreviations as a whole do. There are instaces where it is correct to use the plural form, even if it be an irregular noun.

 

Maybe I wasn't precise in my post. I didn't mean that every abbreviated noun in plural should be followed by small "s". Of course we use small "s" at the end to denote a plural form of the abbreviated expression. Some example to illustrate: COS (Chief of Staff) vs. COSs (Chiefs of Staff), not CsOS. . As you can see nobody is making "a Chief" plural by adding "s" after "C". Likewise, the proper acronym for United States of America is therefore USA, not USsA. No doubt about that. We're degressing from the original question. Headquarters should be shortened to HQ - the only possible option. Otherwise (in case of HQs or HQS), we won't be able to denote the plural form of this noun, represented by this abbreviation. It is the system used NATO-wide and it works, believe me.

 

HQ is often used.
If you really want to write "Headquarters"
Write in full.

This is my opinion.

 

https://www.allacronyms.com/headquarters/abbreviated