Field Marshal (Philippines)

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Please see Field Marshal for other nations which use this rank

Field marshal of the Philippines was a rank created in 1937 to be held by Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was accorded the rank as military advisor to the Philippine government, which retained his services to form an army in response to the growing danger from Japan and the rising chance of war in the Pacific.

MacArthur retired from the United States Army as a major-general, having previously served as a full general while Chief of Staff of the United States Army. President Manuel L. Quezon then hired him as a military advisor and commissioned him a field marshal in the Philippine Army, which did not then exist. (MacArthur’s wife found the situation amusing and often remarked that MacArthur had gone from holding the highest rank in the United States Army to holding the highest rank in a non-existent army.)

MacArthur wore no special insignia as field marshal of the Philippines except a modification to his army officer’s cap. To the standard gold-trimmed visor of a US general's cap, MacArthur added gilt trim to the front body of the cap, above the visor. MacArthur referred to this modified headdress as his "Philippine field marshal['s] cap" and wore it for the duration of World War II and into the Korean War. However, the modified army headdress was against regulations, and MacArthur never officially obtained permission to wear this as a part of his uniform.

After 1946, the rank of field marshal disappeared from the Philippine military and today is obsolete (the highest rank now obtainable is that of general). In theory, the rank could again be conferred, but this would only be as the result of the Philippines' entering into a major war or being invaded.