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
Uniforms of the United States Air Force to those worn by commissioned officers of the U.S. Navy. Cadets and officer trainees wear insignia on their shoulder boards as applicable to their pre-commissioning rank position in their respective officer accession programs. Commissioned officer shoulder boards for colonels and below feature an officer's rank insignia in raised metallic thread, bordered by two silver vertical metallic stipes similar to sleeve braid. General officers wear shoulder boards covered nearly the entire length and width in silver metallic braid, with silver stars in raised metallic thread in number appropriate to their rank. Enlisted personnel wear the same large rank insignia that they