Field marshal ( United Kingdom ) Field marshal 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 RAF . A field marshal ' s insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaf below St Edward ' s Crown . As with marshals of the Royal Air Force and admirals of the fleet in their respective services , field marshals remain officers of the British Army for life , though on half - pay when not in an appointment . The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history and was vacant through parts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ( when all 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 their last day in the post . Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff , the professional head of all British armed forces , were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment . In total , 140 men have held the rank of field marshal . The majority led careers in the British Army or the 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 , Prince of Wales — 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 was already a field marshal , 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 held the honour , though three ( Wilhem II , German Emperor ; Franz Joseph I , Austrian Emperor ; and Hirohito , Emperor of Japan ) were stripped of it when their countries fell out of favour in the two world wars . Also awarded the rank were two distinguished foreign military officers , honoured for their contributions to the First and Second World Wars respectively , and one foreign statesman . 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 the five - star ranks . Part of the rationale behind the recommendation was that the ranks of field marshal , admiral of the fleet and marshal of the Royal Air Force 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 convention of promoting service chiefs to five - star ranks was stopped and the ranks are now reserved for special circumstances . Lord Inge was , in 1994 , the last 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 . The most recent 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 throne , to the five - star ranks in all three services , in recognition of support provided for her in her capacity as Commander - in - Chief 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 field marshal . Guthrie is the only CDS so far , after Lord Inge , to be promoted to field marshal after his appointment ended . Insignia of rank . The rank insignia of a field marshal in the British Army comprises two crossed batons in a wreath of oak 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 . Charles Moore , 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 , though several others served as cabinet ministers . 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 . Two non - British officers have been appointed field marshals in the British Army — Ferdinand Foch of France and Sir Thomas Blamey of Australia , in recognition of their contributions in the First and Second World Wars respectively — while only one , Sir William Robertson , held every rank in the British Army , from private soldier to field marshal . References . General Specific Footnotes