Marshal
This article is about a title. For an adjective meaning "warlike" and associated meanings, see martial (disambiguation) and wiktionary:martial. For marshaling in computer science, see serialization.Marshal (also sometimes spelled
marshall in
American English, but not in
British English) is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word derives from
Old Germanic marh "horse" and
scalc "servant", and originally meant "stable keeper". As marshals became trusted members of the courts of
Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for the most elevated offices. The spelling of the name ("Marshall") is often confused with the spelling of the title ("Marshal").
In many countries, the rank of Marshal is the highest
Army rank, outranking a
General. Marshals are very sparsely appointed, and typically only in war-time (although this need not be the case). The rank of Marshal may also be expanded into the similar title of
Field Marshal. The special symbol of a Marshal is a
baton, and so their insignia often incorporate batons.
In some countries, the word
Marshal is also used instead of
General in the higher
Air force ranks. The four highest
Royal Air Force ranks are
Marshal of the Royal Air Force,
Air Chief Marshal,
Air Marshal and
Air Vice Marshal (although the first has generally been suspended as a peacetime rank).
Some historical rulers have used special
Marshal titles to reward certain subjects. Though not strictly military ranks, these honorary titles have been exclusively bestowed upon successful military leaders, such as the famous Grand Marshal of Ayacucho
Antonio Jose de Sucre. Most famous are the
Marshals of France (
Maréchaux de France), not least under
Napoleon I. Another such title was that of
Reich Marshal (
Reichsmarschall), that was bestowed upon
Hermann Göring by
Adolf Hitler.
Soviet Union and
Russia have both
General of the Army and Marshal in their rank system, which leaves the latter as a largely honorary rank.
Marshal ranks by country
The following articles deal with the rank of Marshal as used by specific countries:
*
Marshal of Finland (
Finland)
*
Marshal of France (
France)
*
Marshal of Poland (
Poland)
*
Marshal of the Russian Federation (
Russian Federation)
*
Marshal of the Soviet Union (
Soviet Union)
*
Marshal of Yugoslavia (
Yugoslavia)
These non-
European ranks are considered the equivalent to a Marshal
*
Mushir (
Middle East)
*
Wonsu (
North Korea and
South Korea)
*
Maresal (
Turkey)
* In feudal times, at many courts one or more of the major dignitaries were styled marshal or a compound such as
court marshal (not related to
court martial) or grand marshal; their functions varied, also in time, but frequently included formally announcing guests at audiences, balls, dinners, etc. Such prestigious office was often made
hereditary in the high nobility, e.g. the English
Earl Marshal.
* The term is still used in modern pageantry; for example, the
grand marshal of a parade is often an honored guest or dignitary
* In
motor racing,
rallying etc. the
track marshals wave the
Racing flags and assist crashed or broken down vehicles cars and their drivers, while
pit marshals watch over the procedures in the pits, and
fire marshals operate fire extinguisher if needed. The
FIA provides [
1] general rules and recommendations on marshalling. In the
2000 Italian Grand Prix and
2001 Australian Grand Prix, track marshals were victims of fatal accidents
* In some organized competitions, such as the endurance sport
Tough guy, officials, seeing to the observance of the rules, are styled marshals
Particularly in the
United States,
marshal is used for various kinds of law enforcement officers with specialist status. They mainly protect the security of the courts and justice system.
*At the federal level, the federal court system is served by the
United States Marshal.
** The
US Supreme Court maintains a Marshal of the Supreme Court who also controls the US Supreme Court Police, a
security police service.
*At the state, local or municipal court level, marshals are petty court officers similar to
constables. Often their job is civil rather than criminal law enforcement.
**In the
American Old West, marshals, also called the "Town Marshal", were appointed or elected
police officers of small communities, with similar powers and duties to that of a
sheriff, while federal marshals would work in a larger, possibly overlapping area, especially in pioneering country. The word is still used in this sense, especially in the
Southwest United States. (
See List of Western lawmen). Still the name for some police forces.
**In
California, several counties maintained separate county marshal's Offices which served as court officers similar to US Marshals. Most have been merged into or taken over by the local County Sheriff's Office.
**In
Connecticut, marshals serve as court officers. They are separated into two classes:
State Marshals are charged with service of process, and
Judicial Marshals perform court security and transport detainees to and from court.
**In
Georgia, the Marshal is a civil law enforcement officer in some counties.
**In
Indiana, Marshals are responsible for law enforcement in a town.
**In
Ohio the term
village marshal has been used for the same, often without any colleague, directly under the Mayor.
**In
Washington, the City of Seattle employs Marshals in their Municipal Court, with the senior officer holding the title of Chief Marshal and the subordinate officers being Deputy Marshals.
*
Sky Marshals are armed
security police officers employed to protect commercial airliners from the threat of
Skyjacking. (Though sometimes called
Air Marshals, they are completely unrelated to the military rank mentioned above, and are not to be confused with it.)
The rank of Marshal has made frequent appearances in
science fiction works, both live action productions and literature. In the universe of
Star Wars, the rank of Marshal is conjectured to be connected to the
TIE fighter forces, being ranks held by senior TIE fighter commanders, equivalent to
Imperial Navy Admirals. Several sources of the
Star Wars Expanded Universe have conjectured the following Marshal ranks of the
starfighter service.
*
Grand Marshal* High Marshal
* Force Marshal
* Chief Marshal
* Marshal
* Vice Marshal
In addition to Star Wars, the rank of Marshal may also be found in the novel
Starship Troopers where the rank of
Sky Marshal is held by the Commander-in-Chief of the military. Marshal is also a military rank frequently found in the universe of
Doctor Who where, more often that not, it is held by various
villains who seek galactic domination through military force. In the
Riddick universe, the leader of the diabolic
Necromonger army is called the Lord Marshal. In the
StarCraft computer game,
Jim Raynor, nominally the main character, holds the rank of Marshal at the story's outset. In the
Warhammer 40,000 universe, the
Black Templars Space Marines chapter has Marshals.
Another example of the rank of Marshal in science fiction and
fantasy can be found in
Mercedes Lackey's world of
Valdemar. One of the country's most important ranks is that of Lord Marshal.
*
Earl Marshal*
General of the Army
