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 Army officer rank insignia had silver eagles on gold epaulettes. No insignia existed yet for lieutenant colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants—the length and size of the fringe showing the difference of grade. In 1836, shoulder straps were adopted to replace the epaulette for field duty. The straps followed the same color combination as the epaulettes; that is, the border was gold with silver insignia for all officers except those of infantry which had silver border with gold insignia. At that time, lieutenant colonels and majors were authorized leaves, captains were authorized two bars, and first lieutenants were authorized one bar on the shoulder straps.