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. 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 actually 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. The authority and distinction of the title of Colonel dates back to 1651 with the Virginia Company. Literally a colonel was recognized during colonial times as a head of the colony, everyone else was a colonist or colonial. There were colonels of expedition companies, land companies, trading companies, county militias, farm communities, plantations and frontier forts. The only person above the colonial colonel was the Governor, this begins changing once the colonels during the Revolutionary War select and become the first US state governors, senators and congressmen under democratic principles. 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. By state The US states that have conferred this title as an honor within the last half-century are Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. Some of the titles hold different levels of authority and some expire at the end of the term of the governor. The most popular and widely awarded type of colonelcy is the "Kentucky Colonel". Alabama Colonel – Alabama honor specifically makes one a colonel in the state militia. Georgia Colonel – Georgia's honorary title give its members a rank as aides-de-camp on the governor's staff codified in Official Code of Georgia Annotated 38-2-111; second to it is the rank of Georgia Lieutenant-Colonel Kentucky Colonel – Kentucky colonelcy dates back to 1775 with the