In medieval Iberia, an alférez (Spanish: [alˈfeɾeθ], Galician: [alˈfeɾɪθ]) or alferes (Portuguese: [alˈfɛɾɨʃ], Catalan: [əlˈfeɾəs]) was a high-ranking official in the household of a king or magnate.
The connection with arms-bearing is visible in several Latin synonyms: fertorarius, inferartis, and offertor.
[2] He was generally in charge of the king or magnate's mesnada (private army), his personal retinue of knights, and perhaps also of his armoury and his guard.
[1] In the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the office of alférez changed hands with higher frequency than others, and there is also evidence of rotation.
In the kingdoms of Castile and León in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the office was generally bestowed on young noble members of the court, often as a prelude to promotion to the rank of count.