Rank and insignia of the armed forces of Themiclesia

History

The adoption of visual symbols of rank in the Themiclesian military occurred sporadically over many centuries, and the current system reflects the complexities resulting from a desire to conserve established symbols and integrate new symbols.

Before the 14th century, there was no obvious distinction between civil and military officers. For both, the colour of the sash, the material of the seal it held, and the style of headdress defined the wearer's rank on the same scale. All men (and women, in some cases) holding public office were entitled to wear a coronet, but the monarch and high-ranking aristocrats wore three arches, senior bureaucrats wore two, and junior bureaucrats, one. In the army, a commander of a regiment wore two arches, and other military officers one; a general commanding multiple regiments, almost always an aristocrat of high rank, wore three arches. Sashes provided a finer distinction according to pay-grade. The most junior officers, holding command over fewer than 100 men, were not permitted coronets or sashes.

The Colonial Army, emerging in the 14th century, utilized ribbons to distinguish junior officers, who oversaw 5, 10, 20, or 50 men or held other specialized positions. Amongst other troops, it seems a variety of strategies for distinguishing units were used. Geometric shapes were painted onto body armour, sewn into clothing, or were attached to the soldier by strings on their backs. Squares, circles, and triangles of various colours each had contextual meanings, but they have largely been forgotten. Into the 16th century, a ribbon worn on the sleeve was the most typical way a commander denoted sections of his troops. However, these symbols were not typically conserved, since commanders had considerable latitude to re-organize his troops to meet tactical demands. These tactical groupings could occur irrespective of existing subdivisions in a unit, such as the employ of a certain patron or enlistment in a certain place.

The introduction of line infantry style of warfare in the 17th century had the effect of strengthening internal units, as troops became specialized to wield a particular weapon and stand in a fixed, relative position. The obsolescence of body armour required soldiers to shift crests onto their backs, largely that commanders could have a clear view of them from a distance. Hats became a way for troops to distinguish themselves from others, through the braiding and colour of their straps. Certain troops, particularly those serving as near guards for generals, retained body armour and melée weapons for longer than their counterparts in the field.

In the 18th century, salary grades of the civil service were combined with military offices to produce a system that applied to the officers of most infantry and cavalry regiments. These were the 250, 300, 500, 700, and 1,000-bushel ranks, roughly corresponding to the Casaterran ranks of ensign, lieutenant, captain, major, and colonel; these ranks were chosen as anything more junior would not have required the approval of the Chancellor. Particularly important colonels, those holding command over other colonels, were promoted to the 2,000-bushel rank in 1753; colonels of this superior rank are often translated as colonels-general, though in Shinasthana it is written the same way. Generals were not appointed permanently and as such have no salary grade. They were assumed to be mutually independent unless specifically appointed as subordinates to other generals. A second-in-command usually existed alongside a general in the field, but this figure had no independent authority and functioned as a deputy when the general was away. In some cases the second-in-command took charge of part of the army if it was large, such as the case in Norfeld in 1795 with over 130,000 soldiers at peak strength; where the army was small, such as in Camia, there was usually no such need.

The situation in the navy was radically distinct. An old honours ladder evolved into a ranking system for sailors and designated their eligibility to be appointed to certain offices, with explicit criteria for each specialization to be promoted into the next rank. Very experienced seamen who remained with the navy could be promoted as far as the lieutenant commander of a ship, though the typical captain was a "naval soldier" who was more concerned with the ship as a combatant at sea rather than its proper running.

Etymologies

Army

Generals

Until the Permanent Generalcies Act of 1895, the office of colonel was the highest appointed in Themiclesia. For centuries, generalcies were created ad hoc on the eve of war to take command over several colonels and dissolved at the restoration of peace, and they bore no permanent rank in the modern sense, their holders retaining their personal rank at court. Yet owing to military reforms, many statutory powers of officers were centralized under the Chancery Division for War, Division for Roads, Imperial Treasury, Exchequer Department, Department of Works, and others. To co-ordinate these agencies, the Board of War was established directly under the Government as an advisory conference. By 1880, the Board of War had become a standing department of civilian and military officers.

The names of staff generalcies were generally chosen from the old titles granted by the emperor to commanders in the field. These titles originally possessed no particular order of seniority, though they were associated with specific military functions that, by the 1895, were already incorporated into various bureaucries. The lack of ranks associated with these titles would persist until 1940, when Parliament declared that the rank of general and lieutenant-general would be established with the 2000-bushel or viceregal rank, the major-general with the 1000-bushel, and the brigadier with the 800-bushel. This means some generals would be junior to the colonels under their command, but this was not an issue because most generals were peers and thus outranked commoners colonels.

• General (OF-9; 領軍將軍, rink-kwir-tsangs-kwir): an old title used by officers in charge of military units, translatable as "general-commander of armies". In the field, this rank is only used for a commander of a field army or a group of field armies. The President of the Consolidated Board, the most senior professional officer in the Consolidated Army, holds this rank ex officio.

• Lieutenant-general (OF-8; 護軍將軍, ghagh-kwir-tsangs-kwir): an old title meaning "general prefect of armies", used by officers commissioned to inspect large numbers of military units. In the field, this rank is used by a commander in charge of a corps.

• Major-general (OF-7; 右將軍, ghwre′-tsangs-kwir): an old title meaning "helping general". It now designates a general in charge of a division in the field.

• Brigadier (OF-6; 副將軍, peks-tsangs-kwir): an old title also meaning "supporting general". In the field, it is given to a general in charge of any unit smaller than an cavalry or infantry division.

Officers

Philologists have asserted that clothes iron is a phonetic or semantic source for the Army rank of colonel.

• Colonel (OF-5; 㷉, ′uts): the primitive meaning of ′uts was "judge" as demonstrated in the position of ling-′uts or Justice in the royal court; this position also existed later at viceregal courts, where specifically it was associated with certain military functions. It is perhaps related to ′uts (熨, "clothes iron"), from the sense of a heavy object keeping things in order or removes defects. Other than ′uts of geographic and judicial jurisdiction, ′uts also named officers of standing military units starting in the 6th century, so there were several classes of civil and military officers named ′uts. The ′uts was the most senior military officer appointed in peacetime until 1895. The rank of colonel-general is also written as ′uts.

• Lieutenant-colonel (OF-4; 𢒠, mrank): "horse". The title harkens back to the bronze age, where warfare was characterized by chariot manoeuvres, which required large amounts of horses, and it has since been generalized as a commander of military units smaller than a regiment.

• Major (OF-3; 矦, gwa): related to the term gwas (矦) "to anticipate".  It is also used as a title of nobility, now translated as "baron", originally meaning "servant". In the Gojun dynasty, gwa was written in the shape of an arrow shot into a target of some kind. Scholars suggest that the gwa sort of lordship originally also was some sort of military functionary.

• Captain (OF-2; 長, ntrang): the root word of ntrang means "senior", linked to the gerontocratic traditional of prehistoric Meng society. This rank is also called nis-prik-ntrang (二百長) or "captain of two-hundred", referring to the standard unit size associated with this rank.

• First lieutenant (OF-1; 吏, reqs): from "commissioner, officer, agent". Before the rank of second lieutenant was introduced, this was the lower-ranking officer with independent accounting power, and in many units this rank is specified as kip-reqs (計吏) "accounting officer"; this meant at the close of each fiscal year, the officer audits the men and material under his charge and "accounts" for changes to their balance from the previous year. This report is not submitted to the officer's superior, but under seal to the Exchequer. By his charge, the officer is also known as prik-ning (百夫) "hundred-man". It was called the first step on the "path of service" (士途).

• Second lieutenant (OF-1; 左, tswai): the second lieutenant was introduced to replace the ranks of cornet in the cavalry and ensign in the infantry. It literally means "assistant".

Petty officers and enlisted

The enlisted ranks are primarily based on the disused honours system that was established during the Hexarchy to encourage bravery in battle, where honours were granted solely on the basis of valour, regardless of origin or other skills.

• Sergeant-major (庶長, djak-ntrang): the word djak means "many", and ntrang as mentioned means a holder of power. The relative clear meaning of the rank means "officer of many [things]".
• First Sereant (長秩, trjang-lrit): this rank appears to be an abbreviation of ntrang "senior" and the next-lower rank.
• Sergeant 1st Class (中秩, trung-lrit): the interpretation of this rank is controversial. A literal reading would provide "middle salary", but historically this was the lowest rank to have a fixed annual salary, which rules out that interpolation. A likelier candidate would be to read it as trungh-lrit, which means "achieve salary", but that requires the circumstantial derivation of trung, which is not reflected in the actual reading of the term that soldiers usually employ. It is argued that the corrupted reading was spread by soldiers who were aware neither of the proper reading nor the fact that the character 中 can be read both ways, depending on context, though there is naturally no evidence of this happening.
• Staff Sergeant (上造, dang′-tsuh): this Army rank is an old rank on the honours system, and as such its precise origins are difficult to determine. Some scholars argue that tsuh is an phonetic borrowing of tsuh, "stove". Further elaboration states that the cook also occupied a central place in early Themiclesian military life, and the first word dang′ is to be read as ′dang′, meaning "to manage, tend after". As with the reading of sergeant 1st class, it is difficult to imagine how this can be evidenced, given that Themiclesian soldiers spoke a variety of dialects, and corruptions in speech spread very quickly and frequently.
• Sergeant (公士, kong-sqre′): this is literally interpreted as "royal warrior", where the glyph for sqre′ is simply the shape of a battle-axe. While the meaning of sqre′ is plain, it has been extended to mean any literate person in public service, since education and military service were inseparable obligations of the petty nobility. The word kong has since been extended to mean any public affair.
• Corporal (官士, kwal-sqre′): given the definition of sqre′ above, kwal-sqre′ is to be read as "formation warrior", as the kwal is a military formation.
• Private (卒, tsut): in bronze inscriptions, the glyph for tsut consists of those for "clothing" and "pattern". Depending on the source, tsut, which means "fighting men", can either be envisioned as someone wearing clothing, with a badge of identity, or as someone with a tattoo, again as a badge of identity. There is some evidence that very early Themiclesians use tattoos as some sort of marker, but the word it has come to mean "culture, literature" rather than anything to do with warfare. Alternatively, the character for "clothes" may also be written as a phonogram only, in which case the correct reading of tsut would be mset. The Colonial Army also used tattoos as identification, but that was clearly inherited from their criminal heritage and is far too late to have influenced the writing of this glyph. The prefix to this word distinguishes between the three lowest ranks of the enlisted ones, ntrang meaning senior as before, ting meaning "proper, qualified", and kong "royal".

Navy

The Navy's ranks are less straightforward to interpret than those of the Army, as it originated later and was subject to fewer government restrictions, allowing its structure to flow more freely.

• Admiral (都督, tā-tūk): ta means "city", and tuk means "middle". tuk is extrapolated to mean one who corrects deviations. This title is probably borrowed from the army, where it meant a supervisory officer of a county or prefecture's troops, which has been re-interpreted to mean ships.
• Vice Admiral (監督, keram-tūk): kram means "to supervise".

Funerary mural of the 2nd Director of Fleets, Gong Mik (in office 765 – 766), presumably the first holder of the title admiral.

• Rear Admiral (右監督, gwrje′-keram-tūk): the explanation of gwrje′ give above, Navy reads this as "assistant admiral", rather than "right [side] admiral".
• Commodore (二八百將, nis-pryāt-perêk-ksangs): the literal meaning of this rank is "commander of two eight-hundreds". The usual explanation given is that ship captains received a salary pegged to the eight-hundred bushel rank in the civil service, and a njidh-prêt-prêk-tsjangh usually controlled two ships. However, contrary voices state that ship captains did not always have this emolument, particularly not during the time when the phrase was first attested. Hexarchy bronzes demonstrate that the "eight-hundred" can be interpreted as a unit of eight-hundred men, though early ships were incapable of carrying eight-hundred men, or even half as much, until the 1200s. This rank is deemed an unresolved mystern as of 2019.
  • Colonel-general (尉, ′uts): the same word "colonel" in the Consolidated Army; however, the colonel in charge of all regiments in the marine corps was promoted to the 2,000-bushel rank in the civil service in 1753, and though the difference is not marked in Shinasthana, in Anglian the term "colonel-general" is used to reflect preferment.
• Captain (大司, ladh-sle): though ancient, this rank is simply read as "great controller", and it matches exactly its Tyrannian translation and means the captain of a ship, the "great officer in charge".
  • Colonel (尉, ′uts): the first character gang means "fleet". The two other words are as they are employed in the Army, meaning "controller of horses". As A. A. Ascott points out, it is used as a general appelation, as the Marines do not have cavalry units. Prior to the 17th century, gang-slje-mra′ was an office occupied by the most senior officer of naval infantry in a given fleet, hence the prefix "fleet"; only with the expansion of the fleet (and thus the number of marines in it) were multiple gang-slje-mra′ appointed. In this case, the longest-serving officer in that rank would be the de facto leader of the several gang-slje-mra′.
• Commander (作司, dzak-sle): slje having been given before, the glyph for dzak represents an axe cutting into wood in frontal view. The generalized meaning is "to make", and the further generalized definition is "to act". According to most authorities, dzak means a captain's mate who goes around the ship to enforce the captain's decisions, or an executive officer as distinguished from a commander.
  • Lieutenant-Colonel (廷司馬, m.lêng-sle-mrānk): this comparable to the rank name for colonel, except it uses the prefix mlêng, which may have several meanings. Etymologically, it literally means the space before a building, which was used in ancient times for public meetings. In the civil service, it most often refers to an abstract government authority. As the next-lower rank from gang-slje-mra′, the application of mlêng here may only be metaphorical, as no part of a ship is called mlêng.
• Lieutenant Commander (右司, gwre′-sje): as mentioned, gwrje′ means "assistant", and slje "controller".
  • Major (右司, gwre′-slje): this rank is written and pronounced the same way as in the naval ranks and has the same meaning.
• Lieutenant (航將, gang-ksangs): gang means "fleet", and tsjangh "commander". The notable issue is that this has always been a comparatively low-ranking position in the navy, so it cannot be interpreted to mean "commander of the fleet". Alternatively, it can be read as a "commander in a fleet".
  • Captain (房中將, pang-trung-ksangs): there is dispute over the the intended meaning. Dictionaries provide the writing and reading noted here, as "commander in the rear chamber", but the naval establishment has insisted it is to begin with pjang′ instead. This would point to the meaning "twin-keeled" (舫). While twin-keeled boats did exist in Themiclesia, they were only used for river transport, conflicting with the Navy as an oceanic fleet. Additionally, bjang would connect it with the Shinasthana name of the Themiclesian Marines, bjang-njung′-njing.
• Sub-lieutenant (司直, sje-rdek): slje having been given before, the interpretation of drjek has troubled the navy for some time before an unearthed tombstone shows this written as slje-drjek (司德, normally slje-tek). The word tek, while meaning "ethics, morality" in most contexts, can also mean "to ascend" or "view from on high". With this in mind, most agree that it should be read as "controller of scanning", that is, someone who stands from a higher position to scan the distance. However, this prompts why it is written as 直, which some regard as a phonetic borrowing, and others as shorthand. A popular Internet meme has noted that the shorthand lacks the "heart" glyph under the standard orthography, calling the Navy "heartless", which as the same derogatory meaning in Shinasthana as in Tyrannian.
  • First Lieutenant (長吏, ′trjang-reks): as given before, ′trjang means "senior", and rjegh means "administrator".
• Midshipman (長吏, ′trjang-rjegh): this rank is written and read exactly the same way as first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, though the difference is made in translation.
  • Second Lieutenant (計吏, krjebh-reks): literally, "administrator of account". Themiclesian administrators are each responsible for clearing their annual expenditures in the annual Accounting Ceremony, at the Ides of the eighth lunar month. This was abolished in the Marine Corps in 1881 and by then long obsolete.

Enlisted ranks are equally challenging to interpret. A significant difference between the Navy and Army is that the former was apparently much more willing to give credence to organic abbreviations rather than staying true to dictionary forms, and a number of the following ranks have been so thoroughly abbreviated that their original forms were lost to history, sometimes recovered by archaeological evidence.

• Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (中事, trjungh-dzrjeh): trjungh is unambiguously read in this context as "to meet, accomplish", of dzrjeh "affairs".
  • Sergenat-major (中事, trjungh-dzrjeh): read and written exactly the same way as above, with the same meaning.
• Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (執事, dzjip-dzrjeh): dzjip means "to hold", with dzrjeh given above, cp. the etymology of lieutenant in Sieuxerrian
  • First Sergeant (作中事, dzak-trjung-dzrjeh): dzak as given, meaning "to act", in the sense of an executive.
• Petty Officer 1st Class (砲元士, ′pruh-ngjon-dzrje′): this is clearly a borrowing from the Naval Engineers, who were once a distinct military body that operated guns on the Navy's ships; their identity in the fleet began to blur in the 16th century, with heavy, fixed guns gradually integrating into the Navy, and light, mobile guns becoming the characteristic weapons of the Marines. They remained distinct on land, as they were also responsible for constructing naval forts and other installations, as well as operating the Navy's shops and manufactories. The first word pruh is "cannon"; ngjon, "head"; dzrje′, "warrior, officer".
  • Sergeant 1st Class (中宦航, trjung-ghwranh-gang): the first word of this rank trjung was thought to be interpreted as "royal", giving "royal officer in the fleet", cp. trjung-ta-prjang (中都兵), "Royal Signals Corps". But a chance archaeological find in 1957 has show it, written on a funerary inscription, to be an abbreviation of trjung-drjit-ghwranh-gang (中秩宦航), that is "fleet officer with salary". It also implies it to be a borrowing from the Army's ranks, in which the first half trjung-drjit means first sergeant.
• Petty Officer 2nd Class (內用事, nubh-longh-dzrjeh): meaning "inner chargé d'affaires". It is not known compared to what the officer is inner; the semantic connection may be metaphorical, cp. nubh-′sem-ngjarh (內參議), "inner councillor", the title of invited officials at the Ministerial Conference of the Ministry of Defence. While the "interior of the cabin" is suggested, records show that nubh-longh-dzrjeh had outdoor duties.
  • Staff Sergeant (隊士, tuih-dzrje′): literally, "squad warrior".
• Master Seaman (寺航人, lje′-gang-njing): lje′ (寺) has the general meaning of "public office place" in Themiclesia. This suggests the holder of this rank may have expected some office duties around higher officers.
  • Sergeant (長作人, ′trjang-dzak-njing): a prefixation of dzak-njing (see below) with ′trjang, indicating seniority.
• Leading Seaman (長航人, ′trjang-gang-njing): a prefixation of gang-njing (see below) with ′trjang, indicating seniority.
  • Corporal (寺作人, lje′-dzak-njing): a prefixation of dzak-njing with lje′, "office", indicating the holder of this rank may have expected some office duties around senior officers.
• Able Seaman (年航人, ning-gang-njing): prefixation with ning, "year". Professional sailors were given a higher rank to start with than pressed sailors.
  • Private (作人, dzak-njing): this term appears in Themiclesian statutes with the meaning "employee". Despite what is intuitive, the reading "employee of the Marine Corps" is implausible, because military service was not statutory employment until the 20th century. The prevailing argument is that the infantry of the early navy consisted of merchants or prospective merchants, who are likely to be under the employ or someone else.
• Seaman (航人, gang-njing): literally "fleet people".
  • Private (冗徒, njing-da): literally "following passenger".

Air Force

The ranks of the Themiclesian Air Force are nominally imitative of the Navy, since early Air Force leaders often conceived of the force as a "fleet in air". Some of the Air Force's ranks are also derived from Army ranks or translated from Tyrannian terms. Since the Air Force was founded in 1921, most of its ranks have transparent meanings.

• Air Chief Marshal (航都督, gang-ta-tuk): imitative of naval ranks, prefixed with gang (航), "fleet".
• Air Marshal (航監督, gang-kram-tuk): imitative of naval ranks, prefixed with gang, "fleet".
• Air Vice Marshal (右監督, gwrje′-kram-tuk): imitative of naval ranks, prefixed with gang, "fleet".
• Air Commodore (航尉, gang-′wjedh): appears to be a portmanteau of the Army rank of ′wjedh, "colonel" and gang, "fleet".
• Group Captain (右尉, gwrje′-′wjedh): as above, but with gwrje′, "assistant".
• Wing Commander (行將, gang-tsjangh): from gang (行), "unit of 1,000 chariots", and tsjangh (將), "commander". The meaning of "chariot" is extended, or perhaps referencing the gang as a unit in the Air Force.
• Squadron Leader (旅正, rja′-tjengh): from rja′ (旅), "ancient military unit", and tjengh (正), "controller". rja′ is a unit in the Air Force.
• Flight Lieutenant (隊正, mludh-tjengh): from mludh (隊), "ancient military unit", and tjengh, "controller". mludh is a unit in the Air Force.
• First Lieutenant (長吏, ′trjang′-rjegh): ′trjang′ as given above, "senior", and rjegh, "administrator".
• Flying Officer (飛吏, pjur-rjegh): pjur, "fly", and rjegh, "administrator".

Enlisted ranks show influence from the two other services.

• Chief Sergeant (直事, drjegh-dzrjeh): drjegh (直), "one on duty", from drjek (直), "on duty", is an agentive derivation and not a shorthand, as in the Navy's case. dzrjeh (事), "affairs". Alternatively, drjek is also a valid reading in the Air Force.
• Master Sergeant (寺中事, lje′-trjungh-dzrjeh): lje′, "office place". trjungh-dzrjeh, used as in the Navy, "to meet (determine) affairs".
• Staff Sergeant (寺執事, lje′-dzjip-dzrjeh): lje′, as above. dzjip-dzrjeh, used as in the Navy, "to hold affairs".
• Sergeant (長航士, ′trjang′-gang-dzrjeh): ′trjang′, "senior". gang, "fleet", meaning the Air Force. dzrje′, as in the Army and Navy, "warrior, officer".
• Master Corporal (公航士, kong-gang-dzrjeh): as above, but with kong, "royal".
• Corporal (官航士, kwal-gang-dzrjeh): as above, but with kwal, "formation".
• Lance Corporal (航人, gang-njing): gang, "fleet", meaning the Air Force, and njing, "person".
• Aviator (航人, gang-njing): as above.

Hyphenation

Themiclesians are themselves inconsistent with how hyphenation is used in military ranks, and there appears to be no official standard. Many titles can be written both with or without hyphens. Most authorities recommend capitalizing nouns and the first word of titles while keeping other words in lower case. Thus a colonel-general in the Marines is written as Colonel-general Gwjang, since a colonel-general is a kind of colonel, not a kind of general, and a lieutenant-general is written as Lieutenant-General Gwjang, since a lieutenant-general is a kind of general, not a kind of lieutenant. But "Lieutenant" is capitalized anyway because it is also the first word in a title. The same rule which applies to Colonel-general Gwjang is visible in titles such as Attorney-general Gwjang, who is a kind of attorney, not a kind of general. It should be noted that ranks, when not part of a title, are usually not capitalized; however, when a rank is mentioned in lieu of a name, then it is capitalized.

See also

• Consolidated Army
• Themiclesian Navy
• Themiclesian Air Force