Mestre de camp

Mestre de camp or Maître de camp (French pronunciation: ​[mɛːtʁə də kɑ̃]; "camp-master") was a military rank in the Ancien Régime of France, equivalent to colonel. A mestre de camp commanded a regiment and was under the authority of a Colonel General, who commanded all the regiments in one "arme". The rank also existed in Portugal and Spain, as mestre de campo.

When the role of infantry colonel general was abolished in 1661, the mestre de camp took the title of colonel. The cavalry regiments, on the other hand, remained under the authority of a colonel general, were commanded individually by mestres de camp until the French Revolution. The rank of mestre de camp was demonstrated by wearing a pair of épaulettes with gilded or silver fringes.

The rank was abolished during the French Revolution and replaced by that of chef de brigade.