If you’re a regular ol’ civilian like me, you might have a lot of respect for the military, but you don’t know much about military culture. For example, military ranking. Thanks to television, books, and movies, and simply absorbing stuff from the ether by living in America all of my life, I’d picked up a bit on how ranking works in the various branches of the armed forces. But my knowledge was pretty cursory. I could tell you that stars on a shoulder meant the person in uniform was a general or that a single chevron on the sleeve meant they were a private, but that’s about it.

You might think that military rank isn’t something you need to know if you’re not in the service yourself, but as someone who reads a lot of biographies and military history books, I’ve found myself getting lost and a bit confused with the different ranks thrown around, the significance of moving from one rank to the next, or the authority that a certain figure did or did not have over another.

So I decided to study up and learn about ranks in the different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, their respective insignia, and where to look on uniforms to locate this insignia. I’ve got to say, it’s been one of the most fruitful, knowledge-building exercises I’ve done in awhile; I’m already seeing payoffs with my historical reading. And it’s nice to know that should I run into a member of the military, I’d be able to know at a glance where they fall in the hierarchy.

In the course of my research, I discovered that there really didn’t exist a guide to rank out there that I found sufficiently comprehensive and useful. So I decided to create my own and share it with all you fellow clueless civilians. Ten-hut! And read up.

United States Army Ranks and Insignia

Where to Look

With all branches of the military, where rank insignia is placed on the body depends on two factors: 1) the type of uniform (combat, dress, etc.), and 2) whether the individual is enlisted or an officer.

All the branches follow pretty much the same pattern in regards to both factors, but there are some subtle differences.

Combat Uniform

Center of the chest: Whether he’s an officer or enlisted, the Soldier’s rank will be on a patch in the middle of the chest on a combat uniform.

Enlisted: Both sleeves.

Officers: Shoulders. While the Marines and Air Force use pins on the shoulders of the uniform to indicate officer rank, the Army uses shoulder boards similar to the Navy. They’re pieces of fabric that have the officer’s rank embroidered on it.

Enlisted and officers: Collar. For both enlisted and officers, rank insignia is pinned on the collar of the combat uniform. Enlisted ranking insignia is black metal. Officer ranking insignia are polished pins while in garrison; subdued black in the field.

Enlisted: Both sleeves.

Officers: Pins on both jacket epaulets and/or both shirt collars.

Enlisted: Both sleeves will have a black embroidered patch of the enlisted Airman’s rank.

Officer: Rank insignia is embroidered on both sides of the collar.

Enlisted: Both sleeves. You’ll see a blue and white patch on both the upper sleeves of the uniform.

Officers: Shoulder pins.

Enlisted and officers: Patch on center of chest. Both enlisted Sailors and officers have an insignia patch sewn onto the center of the chest of the working uniform.

Enlisted and officers: Pin on shirt collars. Both enlisted Seamen and officers display rank on the collar of their shirt when in service uniform.

Enlisted: Patch on the left sleeve.

Chief Petty Officers: Patch on the left sleeve.

Officers: Stripes on the bottom of both jacket sleeves.

Enlisted: Patch on the upper left sleeve.

Chief Petty Officer: Pins on both sides of the collar.

Officers: Boards on shoulders.