Colonel (U.S. honorary title)

This article is about the honorary title in the United States. For honorary role in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations countries, see Colonel-in-Chief.
Business card of Harland Sanders, late 1940s; he received the honorary title of "Kentucky Colonel" in 1935 from Governor Ruby Laffoon.

The honorable title prefix and style of "Colonel" is designated legally for various reasons by US governors in common law to citizens, employees, travelers and visitors within their states.[1] The origins of the titular colonelcy can be traced back to colonial and antebellum times when men of the landed gentry were given the title to commission companies or for financing the local militias without actual expectations of command. This practice can be traced back to the English Renaissance when a colonelcy was purchased by a lord or prominent gentleman but the actual command would fall to a lieutenant colonel, who would deputize its members for the proprietor.[2]

There is an aristocratic tinge to the social usage of the title "Colonel", which most often today designates a Southern gentleman, and is archetypal of the Southern aristocrat from days past. There is also a different perceptive level of respect for colonels that are reciprocally addressed as "Honorable" or "Colonel" in writing style. While the honor of colonel in the civil usage has no actual military role, the title did evolve from the military.[2]

  1. ^ Wright, David. "American Colonelcy". American Colonels. Archived from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Dandy, Beat (October 2, 2012). "American Chivalry: Honorary Colonel". American Chivalry. Retrieved April 16, 2020.