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Colonel

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For other uses, see Colonel (disambiguation).
Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guards		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal or Marshal Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance corporal or
Lance bombardier or
Specialist		 Able seaman Leading aircraftman
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator

Colonel (/ˈkɜːnᵊl/), abbreviated as Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures. A colonel is typically in charge of a regiment in an army.

"Colonel" is usually the highest or second-highest field rank, and is below the general ranks.

History and origins

As the office of colonel became an established practice, the colonel became the senior captain in a group of companies which were all sworn to observe his personal authority — to be ruled or regimented by him. This regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonel's regiment or standing regulation(s). By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonel's regiment (in the foregoing sense) came to be referred to as his regiment (in the modern sense) as well.

With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, a colonel (normally a member of the aristocracy) became a holder (German Inhaber) or proprietor of a military contract with a sovereign. The colonel purchased the regimental contract — the right to hold the regiment — from the previous holder of that right or directly from the sovereign when a new regiment was formed or an incumbent was killed.

In French usage of this period the senior colonel in the army or in a field force — the senior military contractor — was the colonel general and, in the absence of the sovereign or his designate, the colonel general might serve as the commander of a force. The position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. (The head of a single regiment or demi brigade would be called a mestre de camp or, after the Revolution, a chef de brigade.)

By the late 19th century, colonel was a professional military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. Along with other ranks it has become progressively more a matter of ranked duties, qualifications and experience and of corresponding titles and pay scale than of functional office in a particular organization.

As European military influence has expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by nearly every nation in existence under a variety of names.

With the rise of communism, some of the large Communist militaries saw fit to expand the Colonel rank into several grades, resulting in the unique senior colonel rank which was found and is still used in such nations as China and North Korea.

In modern English, the word colonel is pronounced similarly to kernel (of grain) as a result of entering the language from Middle French in two competing forms, dissimilated coronel and colonel. The more conservative spelling colonel was favored in written use and eventually became the standard spelling even as it lost out in pronunciation to coronel.

Colonel-in-Chief

Main article: Colonel-in-Chief

In many modern armies the 'regiment' has more importance as a ceremonial unit or a focus of common loyalty amongst its members, rather than as an actual battle formation. Troops tend to be deployed in 'Battalions' (commanded by a lieutenant colonel) as a more convenient size of military unit, and as such colonels have tended to have a higher profile in specialist and command roles rather than as actual commanders of regiments. 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 members of the Royal Family,[1] the nobility, or retired senior military officers. 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.[2]

Colonel and equivalent ranks by country

Colonel in individual military forces

The following articles deal with the rank of colonel as it is used in various national militaries.

Central and Eastern European equivalent ranks

Since the 16th century, the rank of regimental commander was adopted by several Central and Eastern European armies, most notably the forces of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Cossacks and then Muscovy. In countries with slavic languages, the exact name of the rank maintains a variety of spellings, all descendant from the Old Slavonic word plk or polk meaning unit of standing army (see The Tale of Igor's Campaign), and include the following:

The Hungarian equivalent ezredes literally means "leader of a thousand" (i.e. of a regiment)

Western European equivalent ranks

Other national equivalent ranks

  •  Thailand Nai Phan (TH: นายพัน) Chief of 1,000
    • Phan Ek (TH: พันเอก) First of 1,000: Colonel
    • Phan Tho (TH: พันโท) Second of 1,000: Lieutenant Colonel

Colonel as highest ranking officer

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. Examples include the following (arranged alphabetically by country name):

Rank insignia for a COLONEL in several nations which have no higher military rank.
 Iceland  Monaco  Vatican City
Colonel CCP Colonel CSP
File:Vat-swi-off-06.JPG

Other uses of Colonel ranks

Further information: Colonel (disambiguation)

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ^ See this list of colonel-in-chief appointments held by HRH The Prince of Wales.
  2. ^ A webpage by a Scottish regiment concerning their Colonel-in-Chief.
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