Captain General ( es, link=no, Capitán General) has been the highest rank in the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

(''Ejército de Tierra'') since the 18th century. A

five-star rank A five-star rank is the highest military rank in many countries.Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 2nd Edition, 1989. "five" ... "five-star adj., ... (b) U.S., applied to a general or admiral whose badge of rank includes five stars;" The rank is t ...

with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

code OF-10, it is equivalent to a

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered a ...

of the armies of numerous countries, a general of the Army of the United States, a

captain general of the Spanish Navy Captain general of the Navy ( es, Capitán general de la Armada) is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the Spanish Navy (''Armada Española''). The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10, the routine honorary appointments fo ...

''(Armada Española)'' or a Captain general of the Air Force in the Spanish Air and Space Force ''(Ejército del Aire y del Espacio)''. A Captain General's insignia consists of two command sticks under five four-pointed stars below the Royal Crown. A personal rank of ''captain general'' was created in the Spanish Army (and Navy) as the highest rank in the hierarchy, not unlike the Marechal de France. Since King Charles IV's reign (1788–1808), the monarchs used captain general insignia when wearing uniform. Briefly abolished by the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

(except one honorary promotion), it was restored by Nationalist Spain in 1938;

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 19 ...

himself was the only officer of this rank. The effective rank was reserved to the reigning

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

. A few posthumous honorary promotions and honorary promotions of retired officers to this rank were also made, such as José Moscardó Ituarte (1956),

Agustín Muñoz Grandes Agustín Muñoz Grandes (27 January 1896 – 11 July 1970) was a Spanish general, and politician, vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister with Francisco Franco several times; also known as the commander of the Blue Division between ...

(1957), Camilo Alonso Vega (1969) or Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado (1994). Some members of the Spanish Royal Family were promoted to the rank after periods of service and Queen Isabella II appointed her consort,

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christiani ...

(1846). Two foreign monarchs,

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

of the United Kingdom and William II of Germany, and four distinguished foreign military officers also held the honour.

Insignia history

File:Je1889.png, File:Je1931.png, File:Je1936.png, File:Vintagedivi2.png, File:Vintagedivi1.png, File:Je1976.png, File:Je1990.png, File:Spain-Army-OF-10.svg,

List of Captains general

Notes

References

Citations

Sources