Field marshal is a very senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually it is the highest rank in an army, and when it is, few (if any) persons are appointed to it. The origin of the rank dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the kings horses (from Old German Marh-scalc = horse-servant), from the time of the early Frankish kings. Promotion to the rank of field marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military achievement by a general (a wartime victory). However, the rank has also been used as a divisional command rank and also as a brigade command rank. Examples of the different uses of the rank include Austria-Hungary, Prussia and Germany for an extraordinary achievement; Spain and Mexico for a divisional command (Spanish, mariscal de campo); and France, Portugal and Brazil for a brigade command (French: maréchal de camp, Portuguese marechal de campo). The traditional attribute distinguishing a field marshal is a baton. The baton nowadays is purely ornamental, and as such may be richly decorated. That said, it is not necessary for the insignia to be a baton. (Such is the case in Russia post-1991 and the former Soviet Union, which use a jewelled star referred to as a marshals star.) The exact wording of the titles used by field marshals varies: examples include marshal and field marshal general. The air force equivalent in the Commonwealth and many Middle Eastern air forces is marshal of the air force (not to be confused with air marshal). (Navies, which usually do not use the nomenclature employed by armies or air forces, use titles such as fleet admiral, grand admiral or admiral of the fleet for the equivalent rank.)
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 13:46:59 +0000
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