Colonel

According to Raymond Oliver, c. 1500, the Spanish began explicitly reorganizing part of their army into 20 colunelas or columns of approximately 1,000–1,250 soldiers.

[1] Evidence of this can be seen when Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed "the Great Captain", divided his armies in coronelías, each led by a coronel, in 1508.

[citation needed] By the late 19th century, colonel had evolved to a professional military rank that was still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit.

[citation needed] As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by nearly every nation (albeit under a variety of names).

[citation needed] In many modern armies, the regiment has more importance as a ceremonial unit or a focus of members' loyalty than as an actual battle formation.

However, in Commonwealth armies, the position of the colonel as the figurehead of a regiment is maintained in the honorary role of "colonel-in-chief", usually held by a member of the royal family,[3] the nobility, or a retired senior military officer.

The colonel-in-chief wears a colonel's uniform and encourages the members of the regiment, but takes no active part in the actual command structure or in any operational duties.

[citation needed] Some military forces have a colonel as their highest-ranking officer, with no 'general' ranks, and no superior authority (except, perhaps, the head of state as a titular commander-in-chief) other than the respective national government.

The sitting governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky bestows the honor of a colonel's Commission, by issuance of letters patent.