Insignia
Insignia were marks or signs used by cultures to distinguish ranks, s, membership, affiliation, achievement, designation, or status.

For humanoids, rank insignia were generally worn on uniforms, and could be displayed by stripes (such as braid) on the sleeves or epaulet, or in the form of pins (like pips and lozenges), embroidered insignia, and patches. These of course differ between civilizations.

Rank insignia

Lists of rank insignia
 Cardassian ranks
 Cardassian uniforms
 Bajoran ranks
 Bajoran Militia uniforms
 Ferengi ranks
 Ferengi uniforms
 Klingon ranks
 Klingon Defense Force uniforms
 MACO ranks
 MACO uniform and equipment
 Romulan ranks
 Romulan uniforms 
 Starfleet ranks
 Starfleet uniforms
 Terran Empire ranks
 Terran Empire uniforms
 Vulcan ranks
 Vulcan uniforms

Types

Braid or stripes

Braid (or stripes) were bands of fabric or metallic material designed to denote rank on a uniform. Officers of Earth's United States Navy wore rank stripes on sleeves and epaulets. That system was similar to insignia used in some eras of Starfleet history. (; )

The Earth Starfleet of the 22nd century used rank stripes on dress uniforms for officers and on the standard jackets of flag officers. The mirror universe's Terran Starfleet used stripes on the standard uniform epaulets for officers, and both the epaulets and sleeves for flag officers.

In the 2250s, Starfleet used stripes of braid for both officers and non-commissioned officers, on the sleeves of standard uniforms and on the epaulets of dress uniforms. By the 2260s, only officers above ensign wore sleeve rank stripes, and only on standard uniforms. The 2260s dress uniforms denoted rank by braid around the collar, again only for officers. In the 2270s, all officers wore rank stripes, either on the sleeves or epaulet, depending on the uniform.

Chevron and rocker
Chevrons and rockers were stripe insignia that were used in many of Earth's land, air, and naval forces to denote enlisted rank.

Epaulet
Epaulets were devices worn on the shoulder, quite frequently to denote rank or grade, or perhaps honor.

Lozenge
The lozenge was what was commonly referred to as a diamond. It was found in a deck of playing cards, and in the rank of a first sergeant.

Pip

Pips were the small metal pins worn to denote rank, particularly on 23rd and 24th century Starfleet uniforms. (, ; ; )

Star
Stars, in the vernacular of rank insignia, were insignia, often used to denote flag officers. The United States military used groups of these insignia for generals and admirals. A similar approach was used by Starfleet, as flag officer epaulet insignia in the 2270s. ()

External link

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Clothing accessories
Symbols