Polish Armed Forces Rank Insignia

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Present Polish system of rank insignia is a direct descendant of various systems used in the past in the Polish Army. Some of the grades trace their name back to Middle Ages, for instance the rank of chor y literally means a flag bearer. Other names of Polish ranks are of foreign origin and were in most cases introduced by 17th century mercenaries serving for the Polish Crown. These include the rank of kapral is a derivate of Italian caporale - much like the English equivalent of corporal. Until World War II, each of the branches of the Land Forces used a set of different names for the same grades. For instance a sergeant was called sier ant in the infantry, ogniomistrz (literally master of fire) in the artillery and wachmistrz (from German Wachtmeister, or Master of the Guards) in the cavalry.