Uniform of the Union Army letters US. Officers, NCOs and cavalry troopers were equipped with a sword belt with a rectangular buckle with eagle motif. Rank was displayed on epaulettes (dress occasions) or shoulder straps(field duties): no insignia for a second lieutenant, one gold bar for a first lieutenant, two gold bars for a captain, a gold oak leaf for a major, a silver oak leaf for a lieutenant colonel, a silver eagle for a colonel and one, two or three silver stars for a general, depending on his seniority. The color of the shoulder strap fields – with trims in gold braid – were
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