Five-star rank
As an active rank, the position exists only in a minority of countries and is usually held by only a very few officers during wartime.
Traditionally, five-star ranks are granted to distinguished military commanders for notable wartime victories and/or in recognition of a record of achievement during the officer's career, whether in peace or in war.
Despite the rarity and seniority of five-star officers, an even more-senior rank of general of the armies was adopted in the United States.
Other names for highly senior ranks from the twentieth century include généralissime (France), reichsmarschall (Nazi Germany), generalísimo (Spain) and generalissimus (USSR).
Only one Australian-born officer, Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey, has held a substantive Australian five-star rank.
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, a British Army officer who commanded the Australian Imperial Force in the First World War, was appointed to honorary five-star rank in the Australian Military Forces corresponding to his promotion to field marshal in the British Army in 1925.
As of late 2023, there have been 342 Marshals of France, of which 78 have been appointed since the Napoleonic revival of the office in the early 19th Century, the most recent being Pierre Kœnig, elevated posthumously to the Marshalcy in 1984.
[11] In 1982, the five-star rank Marshal of the German Democratic Republic was introduced (although the insignia did not display five actual stars).
Under Article VII, Section 18 of the constitution, the president holds the position of commander-in-chief, which is not considered and recognized to be a five-star rank.
President Quezon conferred the rank of field marshal on 24 August 1936 and MacArthur's duty included the supervision of the creation of the Philippines nation-state.
There are today no living marshals of Poland, since this rank is bestowed only on military commanders who have achieved victory in war.
The only full capitán general is currently His Majesty the King of Spain, the last not-royal appointment (honorary) was in 1994 to Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado.
The monarch of Thailand is appointed to the three ranks automatically upon accession as he is the constitutional head of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
[23] Promotion to the ranks of admiral of the fleet and marshal of the Royal Air Force is now generally held in abeyance in peacetime with exceptions for special circumstances.
Promotion to the rank of field marshal was generally stopped in 1995 as a cost-cutting measure but is still made in some cases.
[25][26] In 2014 the former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Stirrup was promoted to the honorary rank of marshal of the Royal Air Force.
[28] Nine Americans have been promoted to five-star rank, one of them, Henry H. Arnold, in two services (U.S. Army then later in the U.S. Air Force).
[30] The timing of the first seven appointments was to establish both a clear order of seniority and a near-equivalence between the Army and Navy services.
