Field marshal (FM) has been the highest rank in the British Army since 1736. A five-star rank with NATO code OF-10, it is equivalent to an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A Field Marshal's insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves below the Tudor Crown. Like Marshals of the Royal Air Force and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though on half-pay when not in an appointment or retired. 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 the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (later renamed Chief of the General Staff) to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of all the British Armed Forces, were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment.

In total, 143 men have held the rank of field marshal. The majority led careers in the British Army or the colonial British Indian Army, rising through the ranks to eventually become a field marshal. Some members of the British royal family, most recently Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Charles III, were promoted to the rank after shorter periods of service. Three British monarchs (George V, Edward VIII, and George VI) assumed the rank on their accessions to the throne, while Edward VII and Charles III were already field marshals, and two British consorts, Albert, Prince Consort and Prince 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; and Hirohito, 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 Australian (Sir Thomas Blamey) and one Frenchman (Ferdinand Foch), honoured for their contributions in World War I and World War II respectively, and one South African statesman (Jan Smuts).

A report commissioned by the Ministry 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 of general 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.

More promotions to field marshal came in 2012, eighteen years after the moratorium on routine promotions to the rank, when Queen Elizabeth 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 as Head of the British Armed Forces. At the same time, Guthrie, who relinquished the post of CDS and retired from active service in 2001, was promoted to honorary field marshal. In June 2014, former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Walker of Aldringham was also promoted to honorary field marshal. The most recent promotions to the rank came in June 2025, when former Chiefs of the Defence Staff Lord Richards of Herstmonceux and Lord Houghton of Richmond were also promoted to the rank.

Although the rank of field marshal is not used in the Royal Marines, the insignia is used on the uniform of the Captain General, the ceremonial head of the corps (equivalent to colonel-in-chief).

Insignia of rank

The rank insignia of a field marshal in the British Army comprises two crossed batons in a wreath of laurel leaves, with a crown above. 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.

List of field marshals

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 the British 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 the Battle of Vitoria, where the Duke of Wellington earned the rank, and ten others served under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. However, only thirty-eight held independent commands in the field, and just twelve served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (the pre-1904 professional head of the army) or Chief of the Imperial General Staff during a major war.

Four field marshals (Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir George White, Earl Roberts, and Lord Gort) had previously received the Victoria 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, a cavalry officer, led two charges on enemy guns in Afghanistan in 1879, while Gort, of the Grenadier Guards, commanded a series of attacks while severely wounded during the First World War in 1918. Roberts received his VC for actions during the Indian Mutiny.

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 become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

No officer whose career was spent in the British Army has ever reached the rank of field marshal without having served in the cavalry, infantry, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, or Royal Engineers. 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.

+Field Marshals of the British Army Name and style Regiment Image Born Promotion date DiedRoyal Regiment of Foot16661737Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot16801743Horse Guards Regiment16741740 1672173926th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot167317476th Regiment of Foot16691749Earl of Bath's Regiment16731748Grenadier Guards (1st Foot Guards)16851768Royal Scots1680175810th Regiment of Foot1680177039th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot 169017735th Royal Irish Lancers1721179413th Regiment of Foot1743180524th Regiment of Foot17201796Grenadier Guards17631827Royal Scots Fusiliers17231806Grenadier Guards17171797Scots Guards17191797Grenadier Guards170817987th Queen's Own Hussars17241807Coldstream Guards 17291803Coldstream Guards17351806Royal Fusiliers1767182033rd Regiment of Foot17691852— (Royal Family;afterwards King of Hanover)17711851Hanoverian Guards17741850Scots Guards17761834— (Royal Family;afterwards King of the Belgians)1790186512th Dragoons17301821Grenadier Guards1743183050th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot17451832Grenadier Guards1747 or 17481837— (Royal Family)18191861William II— (King of the Netherlands)1792184939th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot17571849Grenadier Guards1764185180th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers)176818544th Light Dragoons1788185523rd Regiment of Foot1773186533rd Regiment of Foot17721860Queen's Rangers17851856East Devonshire Regiment1779186399th Regiment of Foot17781868Seaforth Highlanders1779186912th Royal Lancers181919049th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot179218631782187017841875Royal Artillery17791868Royal Engineers17821871Bengal Artillery17861872— (retired) 17851877Grenadier Guards17871876King Edward VII— (Royal Family)1841191052nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot1789187935th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot1790188093rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot18011885Bengal Engineer Group1810189011th Bengal Native Infantry1804189564th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot18041886Royal Artillery1799188685th Regiment of Foot (Bucks Volunteers)180418936th Regiment of Foot18001888Royal Engineers182119034th Regiment of Foot181819099th Bengal Native Infantry1824190012th Regiment of Foot18331913Bengal Artillery1832191467th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot1823190255th Bengal Native Infantry18201902Wilhelm II, German Emperor— (German Emperor; King of Prussia)185919411st Bengal Native Infantry18261904Royal Engineers1850194213th Light Dragoons1838191927th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot18351912Franz Joseph I of Austria— (Emperor of Austria; King of Hungary)18301916King's Royal Rifle Corps1841192551st Sikhs (Frontier Force)18311916Royal Engineers18501916King George VRoyal Welsh FusiliersEx officio — (Royal Family)18651936Scots Guards18451932Royal Engineers184519188th King's Royal Irish Hussars18521925Nicholas II of Russia— (Emperor of Russia)186819187th Queen's Own Hussars1861192831st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot18481921— (Emperor of Japan)1879192635th Artillery Regiment – (French Army)18511929York and Lancaster Regiment185719326th (Inniskilling) Dragoons18611936Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)186419223rd Dragoon Guards18601933 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force)18571926Albert I of Belgium— (King of the Belgians)18751934Royal Scots Fusiliers18651951Worcestershire Regiment18631948Royal Artillery18661948Alfonso XIII of Spain— (King of Spain)18861941Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa)— (Emperor of Japan)19011989King's Royal Rifle Corps18611935Grenadier Guards18651946Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry18691950Royal Artillery18711947King Edward VIIIEx officio— (Royal Family)18941972West Yorkshire Regiment18741947King George VIEx officio— (Royal Family)18951952Royal Artillery18801959— (South African Army)18701950Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment18811944Grenadier Guards18861946Black Watch18831950Royal Artillery18831963Irish Guards18911969Royal Warwickshire Regiment18871976Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1881196462nd Punjabis (Indian Army)18841981Royal Warwickshire Regiment18911970— (Australian Army)18841951Royal Navy – (Royal Family)19212021Somerset Light Infantry18961989King's Royal Rifle Corps19001974Royal Irish Fusiliers18981979Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)19021976— (King of Nepal)19201972Haile Selassie— (Emperor of Ethiopia)1892197517th/21st Lancers19071989Seaforth Highlanders 19071996Royal Artillery19121980Royal Tank Corps 19152001King's Royal Rifle Corps 19212004— (King of Nepal)19452001King's Royal Rifle Corps192320197th Queen's Own Hussars 19252007Green Howards 19272002Royal Artillery 193120182nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) 19312022Royal Scots Greys – (Royal Family)1935livingGreen Howards19352022Welsh Guards, Royal Navy, and Royal Air ForceEx officio – (Royal Family)1948livingWelsh Guards19382025Royal Anglian Regiment1944livingRoyal Artillery195214 June 2025livingGreen Howards1954living

See also