Field marshal (FM) has been the highest rank in theBritish Army since 1736. Afive-star rank withNATO codeOF-10, it is equivalent to anAdmiral of the Fleet in theRoyal Navy or aMarshal of the Royal Air Force in theRoyal Air Force (RAF). A Field Marshal's insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves belowthe Tudor Crown. Like Marshals of the Royal Air Force and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though onhalf-pay when not in an appointment or retired.[1][2] The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history, and was vacant during parts of the 18th and 19th centuries (when all former holders of the rank were deceased). After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint theChief of the Imperial General Staff (later renamedChief of the General Staff) to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post ofChief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of all theBritish Armed Forces, were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment.[3]
In total, 143 men have held the rank of field marshal. The majority led careers in the British Army or the colonialBritish Indian Army, rising through the ranks to eventually become a field marshal. Some members of theBritish royal family, most recentlyPrince Edward, Duke of Kent andCharles III, were promoted to the rank after shorter periods of service. Three British monarchs (George V,Edward VIII, andGeorge VI) assumed the rank on their accessions to the throne, whileEdward VII and Charles III were already field marshals, and two British consorts,Albert, Prince Consort andPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, were appointed by their respective queens. Other ceremonial appointments were made as diplomatic gestures. Twelve foreign monarchs have held the honour, though three (Wilhelm II, German Emperor;Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary; andHirohito, Emperor of Japan) were stripped of it when their countries became enemies of Britain and its allies in the two world wars. Also awarded the rank were one Frenchman (Ferdinand Foch) and one Australian (Sir Thomas Blamey), honoured for their contributions in World War I and World War II respectively, and one South African statesman (Jan Smuts).[4]
A report commissioned by theMinistry of Defence in 1995 made a number of recommendations for financial savings in the armed forces' budget, one of which was the abolition of all five-star ranks. Part of the rationale was that these ranks were disproportionate to the size of the forces commanded by these officers, and that none of the United Kingdom's close allies, such as the United States (which reserves the rank ofgeneral of the army for officers who have commanded large armies in major wars), used such ranks. The recommendation was not taken up in full, but the practice of promoting service chiefs to five-star ranks was stopped, and the ranks are now reserved for special circumstances.Sir Peter Inge was, in 1994, the last active officer to be promoted to the rank. Inge relinquished the post of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in 1997, and his successor,Sir Charles Guthrie, was the first officer not to be promoted upon appointment as CDS, although he was promoted to the honorary rank of field marshal in June 2012.[5]
More promotions to field marshal came in 2012, eighteen years after the moratorium on routine promotions to the rank, when QueenElizabeth II promoted Prince Charles, her son and heir, to the five-star ranks in all three services, in recognition of support provided for her in her capacity asHead of theBritish Armed Forces.[6] At the same time, Guthrie, who relinquished the post of CDS and retired from active service in 2001, was promoted to honorary field marshal.[7] In June 2014, former Chief of the Defence StaffLord Walker of Aldringham was also promoted to honorary field marshal.[8] The most recent promotions to the rank came in June 2025, when former Chiefs of the Defence StaffLord Richards of Herstmonceux andLord Houghton of Richmond were also promoted to the rank.[9]
Although the rank of field marshal is not used in theRoyal Marines, the insignia is used on the uniform of theCaptain General, the ceremonial head of the corps (equivalent tocolonel-in-chief).[10]
The rank insignia of a field marshal in the British Army comprises two crossedbatons in a wreath of laurel leaves, with a crown above.[11] In some other countries, historically under the sphere of British influence, an adapted version of the insignia is used for field marshals, often with the crown being replaced with an alternative cultural or national emblem. On appointment, British field marshals are awarded a gold-tipped baton which they may carry on formal occasions.
Four field marshals were also recipients of theVictoria Cross, the UK's highest award for gallantry.
The vast majority of officers to hold the rank of field marshal were professional soldiers in the British Army, though eleven served as officers in theBritish Indian Army. At least fifty-seven field marshals were wounded in battle earlier in their careers, of whom 24 were wounded more than once, and eight had been prisoners of war. Fifteen future field marshals were present at theBattle of Vitoria, wherethe Duke of Wellington earned the rank, and ten others served under Wellington at theBattle of Waterloo. However, only thirty-eight held independent commands in the field, and just twelve served asCommander-in-Chief of the Forces (the pre-1904 professional head of the army) or Chief of the Imperial General Staff during a major war.[12]
Four field marshals (Sir Evelyn Wood,Sir George White,Earl Roberts, andLord Gort) had previously received theVictoria Cross (VC), the United Kingdom's highest and most prestigious award for gallantry 'in the face of the enemy'. Wood, a famously injury-prone officer, was awarded the VC for two actions in 1858, in which he first attacked a group of rebels in India, and later rescued an informant from another group of rebels. White, acavalry officer, led two charges on enemy guns in Afghanistan in 1879, while Gort, of theGrenadier Guards, commanded a series of attacks while severely wounded during the First World War in 1918. Roberts received his VC for actions during theIndian Mutiny.[13][14][15][16][17]
Wellington, 44 at the time of his promotion, was the youngest non-royal officer to earn the rank of field marshal.The 1st Marquess of Drogheda was the oldest, promoted at the age of 91, while a further twenty-three officers were promoted to field marshal in their eighties. Wellington was also the only field marshal to becomePrime Minister of the United Kingdom.[18]
No officer whose career was spent in the British Army has ever reached the rank of field marshal without having served in thecavalry,infantry,Royal Armoured Corps,Royal Artillery, orRoyal Engineers.[18] One non-British officer has been appointed field marshal in the British Army;Ferdinand Foch of France, in recognition of his contributions in the First World War, while one,Sir William Robertson, held every rank in the British Army, from private soldier to field marshal.[19]
^Titles and styles are those held by the field marshal when they died, or those currently held in the case of living field marshals; in most cases, these are not the same as the titles and styles held by an officer upon their promotion to the rank, nor (in the case of operational field marshals) those held when the officer retired from active service. All post-nominal letters, with the exception of 'VC' (denoting theVictoria Cross) are omitted.
^The regiment given is the regiment into which the field marshal was commissioned. This is not necessarily the regiment the officer first joined, nor is it necessarily the regiment in which the officer spent most of his career. An '—' indicates either that the officer did not lead a career in theBritish Army, or that the officer was not initially commissioned into a formal regiment.
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