Field marshal

Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the second most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks, but junior to the rank of Generalissimo. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons are ever appointed to it. It is considered as a five-star rank (OF-10) in modern-day armed forces in many countries. 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 Afghanistan, Austria-Hungary, Pakistan, Prussia/Germany, India and Sri Lanka 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).

Origins[edit]

The origin of the term dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses (from Old German Marh-scalc = "horse-servant"), from the time of the early Frankish kings; words originally meaning "servant" were sometimes used to mean "subordinate official" or similar. The German Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of France had officers named Feldmarschall and Maréchal de camp respectively as far back as the 1600s. The exact wording of the titles used by field marshals varies: examples include "marshal" and "field marshal general". The air force equivalent in 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. 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 Marshal's star).

Field marshal ranks by country[edit]

Afghanistan[edit]

Sardar Shah Wali Khan (died 1977), of the Musahiban and uncle of King Zahir and President Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan, was a field marshal. Mohammed Fahim became an honorary marshal in 2004. Abdul Rashid Dostum became an honorary marshal in 2020 (this position is now defunct).^[1]