Marshal (Brazil)

Marshal (Brazil)

Marshal (Portuguese: Marechal) is the highest rank in both the Brazilian Army and the Brazilian Air Force, although the latter is titled Marechal-do-Ar (literally Marshal of the Air). These ranks are equivalent to that of Admiral in the Navy. A marshal is distinguished by using five stars, which for a marshal of the air are in the approximate position of Southern Cross and for a marshal in the army, in the form of "X". The five stars of Admiral are in the shape of a pentagon.

Until the structural reform of 1967 in the Brazilian Army, army generals (bearing four stars), when moving to the reserve, were awarded the fifth star automatically. With the reform, it was established that there would be only the promotion of a general to marshal in the event of war, thus extinguishing the rank of marshal within the army in times of peace. Those dubbed as marshals prior to such reform, however, would still bear such titles for the reminder of their lives. The last living Brazilian Army marshal, Marshal Waldemar Levy Cardoso, died in May 2009.

During the days of the Imperial Period (between 1822 and 1889), the patent, regarding the Army, was named "marshal of the army" (Portuguese: Marechal-do-Exército), having been renamed to its shorter current counterpart with the advent of the Republic after 1889.

Although a large number of marshals existed within Brazilian ranks in the second half of the 20th century as mentioned above, the last active marshal in the Brazilian Army (i.e., that to hold office in the command of active troops) was Marshal Mascarenhas de Moraes, holding the position of commander of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, a special Corps assembled to fight alongside the Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II. Marshal Mascarenhas de Maraes would bear said position and title for the reminder of his life (thus, until 1968, when he perished) as a result of a decree by the National Congress which dubbed the position and title honorary lifetime in the form of active troops.

Some Marshals became President of Brazil, notably in the years following the establishment of the Republic in 1889 and also between the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état and the re-establishment of democracy in 1984/1985. Worthy mentions would be Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca (for the earlier aforementioned period) and Marshals Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco and Artur da Costa e Silva (for the latter).