Field marshal ( Finland ) In Finnish Defence Forces Field Marshal ( Finnish : " sotamarsalkka " ( lit . War Marshal ) , Swedish : " fältmarskalk " ) is officially not an active military rank but an honorary rank that can be bestowed upon ' especially distinguished general s ' . So far the only holder of this title has been Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim , then Chairman of the Defence Council , who received it on 19 May 1933 by the decision of the State Council . Baron Gustaf Mannerheim ( 1867 - 1951 ) served as Regent 1918 - 1919 and President of the Republic 1944 - 1946 . Mannerheim had commanded the White Army in the Finnish Civil War in 1918 , and his promotion to field marshal had already been suggested in 1928 , the 10th anniversary of the end of the War . Back then the proposal was rejected as ' too warlike ' - - and there was also fears that such promotion would prove politically controversial — but Mannerheim was nevertheless given an unofficial marshal ' s baton by the Civil War ' s White veterans . Five years later the political climate was more favourable , and the State Council decided to bestow Mannerheim the rank of field marshal . The decision was kept in secret , and came as a pleasant surprise to Mannerheim . He observed " " In a little ultrademocratic country it could seem quite pretentious to indulge in the luxury of a field marshal " " , but also admitted that it was " " not so frightful when the marshal costs the state nothing " " . It is not known why field marshal never became a substantive rank rather than honorary one , but this distinction caused Mannerheim some consternation at the time . He had to pay a substantial stamp duty of 4000 Finnish mark s . Mannerheim ' s secretary at the Defence Council , the then Lieutenant Colonel Aksel Airo tried to make the Defence Forces or Ministry of Defence foot the bill . It is customary that the organization that has originally put a person forward for the title , pays the stamp duty that comes with it . But in this case no such payer could be found and finally Airo had to present the bill to Mannerheim , who commented wryly : " " It ' s good they didn ' t make a bigger chief out of me . " " Mannerheim was also initially concerned that as field marshal was not an official rank , he was no longer in the Defence Forces service , but Mannerheim was then assured that he remained in the Finnish Army officer lists as a general of cavalry ( " ratsuväenkenraali " , his substantive rank since 1918 ) . Mannerheim received the field marshal ' s title three days after the 15th anniversary of the end of the Civil War , choosing not to receive the title on the anniversary on 16 May , because he did not want to aggravate the wounds of the War . On this occasion Mannerheim was also given a new , official marshal ' s baton , but he still preferred to use the old , unofficial one , because it was lighter . In practice field marshal was treated like a military rank . Mannerheim , in co - operation with artist and author Aarno Karimo designed a new rank insignia consisting of the three heraldic lions of a full general and crossed marshal ' s batons . On Mannerheim ' s 75th birthday 4 June 1942 he was bestowed the title of " Marshal of Finland " ( Finnish : " Suomen marsalkka " , Swedish : " Marskalk av Finland " ) that has been specially created for him , although it was fully symbolic title and his rank insignia remained the same . At the time when Finland was under Swedish rule ( before the War of Finland in 1808 - 1809 ) , a number of Finnish - born men reached the corresponding rank of Fältmarskalk .