list of U.S. military ranks
In the early days of the Continental Army, military dress was anything but uniform. Militiamen often wore civilian hunting or work clothes, and such uniforms that did exist varied widely according to state or regiment. George Washington created a system to designate rank, but for noncommissioned officers, these insignias amounted to little more than colored strips of cloth or ribbon. Officer rank insignias were slightly more elaborate, consisting of color-coded hat cockades and sashes.
Throughout the 19th century the modern system of rank insignias took shape in the U.S. military. One tradition, which dated to the Revolutionary era, was the use of the color silver. Silver-embroidered stars adorned the uniforms of general officers, and when the U.S. Army adopted an eagle as the insignia for the rank of colonel, it too was rendered in silver. Other insignias were created for lower ranks—some rendered in silver, others in gold—but in the decade following the American Civil War, the current color scheme had become largely fixed. In 1917 an insignia for the rank of second lieutenant was created (newly minted officers had previously worn an officer’s uniform with no visible symbol of rank). Following the precedent established by the insignias for lieutenant colonel and major (both ranks are represented by an oak leaf, with the higher rank in silver and the lower one in gold), a second lieutenant would be marked by a single gold bar to distinguish that officer from a first lieutenant wearing a single silver bar.
Officer ranks
The metal collar devices depicted above are used throughout the U.S. armed forces, but the service dress and full dress uniforms of officers in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard also incorporate insignia into the shoulder boards or sleeves.
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Enlisted ranks
There is significantly more variation in the insignia for enlisted ranks across the service branches. It is also notable that pay grade is often associated with rank, but the two classifications are not necessarily equivalent. In the U.S. Army, for example, both corporals and specialists are at the E-4 pay grade, but a corporal—as a junior noncommissioned officer—will always outrank a specialist.