The branch of the US Army I support sent an email that its charter is changing. This word “charter” is a word I may never understand. I understand the King of England granting certain people land charters. I can understand a charter bus. But, can someone explain what this use of “charter” means in this instance? There’s a mission, and often the mission keeps evolving. But, I have never heard of a charter in the 15 years I have been supporting this division.
Is this the right context?
A company charter is a document outlining the objectives, the structure, and the plans of the entity. It’s what you file when you want to register your company. You file it with the local (state) or federal government for approval. I imagine a militray organisation would also have a similar charter.
Etymologically, the word “charter” is derived from an Ancient Greek word that was passed on through many languages, coming to Europe via Latin, and the original meaning of which was any material intended to be written upon; it could, depending on context, mean papyrus or, in the Middle Ages, paper. But the general theme is stuff on which you write. In some Romance languages, the Latin version of it, “carta”, still means paper.
From this, associated meanings developed, so “charter” and “carta” came to mean any written document that has a legal significance. That’s the story behind the meaning of “charter” as a legal privilege granted by a higher authority, such as a monarch, to an organisation; it’s also the story behind the “Magna Carta” in medieval England.
From that, it’s only a small step towards “charter” meaning a constitutional document setting up an organisation and outlining its governance structure; synonyms in that sense would be “constitution”, “articles of association” or “bye-laws”.
Since the local branches of many organisations have a “charter” in that latter sense, the word also came to mean the local branch itself. In that sense, it is synonymous to “chapter”, which sounds very similar but has a different etymology, or “section”.
Yup, all…that makes sense. (It’s still a weird word to me.)
An odd instance of the use of “charter” is in the lyrics to the patriotic British song Rule Britannia:
“When Britain first at heaven’s command / Arose from out the azure main / This was the charter, the charter of the land / And guardian angels sung this strain”
I suppose it means the promise of a divine favour for Britain in this context.
Was it an announcement of “change of charter?” Sometimes that indicates a senior level of management change for a unit that is not a command (which would be a change of command ceremony). Some units call it a change of responsibility others call it a change of charter since the organization was created via charter as mentioned above. I’ve found this prevalent in large defense acquisition programs mostly.