British Army officer rank insignia some time to become familiar with them all. Those in the ranks of Captain, Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant are often referred to as subalterns. Those of Brigadier, Colonel, Lt. Colonel and Major are considered to be of field officers. All above these are considered to be of general officer rank. For a short period, the British Army used the rank of sub-lieutenant, before that was changed to second lieutenant. Before 1767, there were no definite badges for Field Marshals and General officers. In 1767, the British Army issued an order to distinguish Field Marshals (once the rank was established in
United States Air Force officer rank insignia uniforms while on duty, but even when in uniform they often do not wear rank insignia. However, when attending Professional Military Education courses, they do wear rank insignia. The current Air Force officer rank names and insignia were taken from the Army upon the establishment of the Air Force as a separate service in 1947. The insignia have been essentially unchanged since then, except for a brief period during the 1990s, when then-Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill A. McPeak redesigned the service dress uniform. His redesign replaced the metal rank insignia for officers with silver braid on the