Spanish captain grades retain ship-of-the-line, frigate and corvette titles. Below them, alférez de navío and alférez de fragata identify junior naval officers. Alférez derives from an Arabic term associated with a knight, horseman or cavalryman and entered Spanish usage through the Reconquista. The rank survives across Spain's army, navy, and air and space forces, while related usage also appears in Argentina, Chile and the Philippines. The hierarchy combines age-of-sail ship categories with terminology traced to the Reconquista.
Chapter · 58:20-1:01:27
Alférez preserves the Arabic roots of Spanish junior-officer ranks
Spanish frigate and ship-of-the-line alférez titles carry a word for knight or horseman from Arabic and Reconquista-era usage into modern service.