Starfleet ranks and insignia

Officer ranks
Rank	Admiral	Rear Admiral	Commodore	Captain	Commander	Lieutenant Commander	Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade	Ensign
Original Series		no information	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]	[4]	no insignia[3]
The Motion Picture	no information	[2]	no information	[2]	[2]	[2]	[2]	Does not exist	[2]

A rank of fleet captain is mentioned in two episodes, but no insignia is shown. A memo describing the sleeve stripes for The Motion Picture on August 3, 1978 does not mention the rank of lieutenant junior grade, and identifies the rear admiral insignia as having one double-width stripe below a single regular-width stripe.

In the original series, every member of Starfleet wears an assignment patch on their left breast, which varies from ship to ship.^[5] Within this assignment patch is a symbol which represents the department which the officer is serving in (operations, science or command, represented by a spiral, a circle, and a star respectively). In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the emblem used as the USS Enterprise assignment patch in the original series has been adopted as an emblem by the entire Starfleet.^[6] (The reason for this has never been canonically established, although Gene Roddenberry's novelization of The Motion Picture states that it was in honor of the Enterprise, which was the only ship of its class to return back from its five year mission with crew and ship mostly intact. In The Motion Picture the department indicated by the background color of the circle on which the Starfleet arrowhead is set - white indicating command, red for engineering, orange for science, pale gold for operations, green for medical and gray for security.^[2]

[edit] TOS movie era

Fletcher redesigned the costumes for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This design is used in the following movies, up to Star Trek: Generations, and variations appear in some flashback scenes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. In this costume, Starfleet officers wear rank insignia on the uniform jacket clasp.

During this era, insignia representing department are not worn; it is instead indicated by the color of the shoulder strap and collar.^[5] A Starfleet insignia is worn on the left breast.

Flag Officer ranks
Fleet Admiral	Admiral	Vice Admiral	Rear Admiral	Commodore
[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]

Officer ranks
Captain	Commander	Lieutenant Commander	Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade	Ensign
[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]

Enlisted men in the TOS movie era wear, according to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, the following insignia on their left sleeve:

Master Chief Petty Officer	Senior Chief Petty Officer	Chief Petty Officer	Petty Officer 1st Class	Ables'man
[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]

The Encyclopedia also lists a Master Chief Petty Officer 2nd class insignia, which is the same as the MCPO, but without the hat.

[edit] Conflicts

Lieutenant Commander insignia
Mr. Scott's Guide[8]	Star Trek VI[9]

The "movie pins", seen in the star Trek motion pictures, have generated several alternate and conflicting versions from various offical, semi-offical, and non-canon sources. The "true" movie pins are considered to be those from the notes of costume designer Robert Fletcher with a live action apperance of a rank insignia pin (i.e. a character actually wears the pin in a film or television production) the final word on the pin's canon. Such was the case for the rank pin of Lieutenant which did not apper until a late season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Lieutenant Commander pin which was speculated to have three different apperances until the pin was worn by Valeris in Star Trek IV.

Examples of movie pin contradictions include the 1986 book Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise which identifies a commodore insignia^[8] (at left) which is also labeled as a fleet captain's insignia in The Star Trek Encyclopedia.

Additionally, there are different representations of the lieutenant commander rank pin. Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise,^[8] and subsequent sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia,^[7] show a different design than that worn by Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.^[9] A third version of the pin, showing a solid veritical bar, apperaed in the pin catalogs of Hollywood Pins.

[edit] 24th century spinoffs

During all the shows set in the 24th century, a consistent insignia scheme is used for officers: a series of gold pips, either a solid color or an outline, worn on each officer's right collar. After the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a consistent scheme is also used for admiral insignia: a series of gold circles inside a black rectangle with a gold border worn on both collars.^[5]

"Conspiracy" admiral insignia

For the first season of TNG, admirals wear a different insignia, consisting of a triangle or stripe resembling gold weave along the right collar; varying numbers of gold circles may be placed underneath the weave. These insignia most notably appeared in the episode "Conspiracy", where three different variants were seen, worn by Admirals Quinn (no pips), Savar (one pip) and Aaron (two pips).

Star Trek: Voyager introduces what The Star Trek Encyclopedia refers to as "provisional ranks" for the titular ship's Maquis crew. Only ranks up to lieutenant commander appear on screen; The Star Trek Encyclopedia projects the insignia through the rank of captain.^[5]

A Starfleet insignia is worn on the left breast: this also functions as a communicator badge. This commbadge insignia was redesigned for the movie Star Trek: Generations (the only surviving part of a planned redesign of the uniforms), replacing the oval with a trapezoid.^[10] This new commbadge is also used in Deep Space Nine from season three, and Voyager.

Enlisted and cadet ranks are seen rarely; their insignia are unclear.

Flag Officer ranks Rank Fleet Admiral Admiral (4-star Admiral) Vice Admiral (3-star Admiral) Rear Admiral (2-star Admiral) 1-star Admiral TNG, DS9, VOY [11] [11] [11] [11] [11]

Officer ranks Rank Captain Commander Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Lieutenant Junior Grade Ensign TNG, DS9, VOY [5] [5] [5] [5] [5] [5] Provisional [5] [5] [5] [5] [5] [5] [edit] Conflicts O'Brien's DS9 insignia Seasons 1-3 Season 4+ Miles O'Brien originally wears two gold pips and is referred to as a lieutenant. While wearing this insignia in "Family", he is referred to as a chief petty officer by Worf's stepfather; the TNG Companion regards this an error.[12] He continues to wear this insignia until the sixth season, when he starts wearing a hollow gold pip, which is identified by The Star Trek Encyclopedia as the "chief warrant officer" insignia. In the pilot episode of Deep Space Nine, "Emissary", he again wears the two-pip lieutenant insignia, and that episode's novelization refers to him as "ensign junior grade".[13] He again wears the one-pip device in the next episode, "Past Prologue".[14] From the fourth season on, he wears a new rank insignia, shown to the right. The fourth-season episode "Hippocratic Oath" identifies him as a "chief petty officer". Deep Space Nine's writers have explained that they disliked the term "petty officer" and thus originally avoided using it; O'Brien's insignia is intended to represent the second-highest petty officer rank.[15] Ronald D. Moore suggested that O'Brien, if promoted, would become a master chief petty officer.[16] Kosinski's insignia[17] "Deputy Director" Luther Sloan's insignia[18] Other insignia appear but the rank they denote is uncertain. Examples include Kosinski's insignia in "Where No One Has Gone Before" and Luther Sloan's insignia in "Inquisition". The Star Trek: Next Generation Officer's Manual, a roleplaying manual published by FASA in 1988, shortly before it lost its license, includes insignia for TNG-era commodores, fleet captains, and branch admirals.[19] This last is based on a shoulder board worn by Leonard McCoy in that character's appearance in "Encounter at Farpoint". [edit] Alternate reality and 29th century In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Parallels", officers wear a series of stripes behind the Starfleet delta. The standard collar insignia are worn as well. The officers of the 29th century officers in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Relativity" wear chevron-like collar insignia. [edit] Enterprise This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!) Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since April 2007. The prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise does not include characters who hold the ranks of lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant commander. The highest ranking admiral seen wears a three-pip insignia. Ensign Lieutenant Commander Captain Commodore Rear Admiral Admiral [edit] References ^ Okuda, Mike; Denise Okuda with Mirek, Debbie (1997). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-35607-9.  and Okuda, Mike; Denise Okuda with Mirek, Debbie (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.  Images accessible at Rank Comparison. Spike's Star Trek Page Rank Chart. Retrieved on December 26, 2006. ^ a b c d e f g h Sackett, Susan and Roddenberry, Gene (1980). The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671791095.  ^ a b c d e f Okuda, Michael & Denise (1997). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-35607-9.  Images accessible at 2265-2370 Ranks. Spike's Star Trek Page Rank Chart. Retrieved on December 26, 2006. ^ "The Naked Time". Star Trek. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Okuda, Michael & Denise (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.  ^ Okuda, Mike; Okuda, Denise (1996). Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53610-9.  ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Okuda, Michael & Denise (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.  Images accessible at 2278-2350 Ranks & Rates. Spike's Star Trek Page Rank Chart. ^ a b c Johnson, Shane (1987). Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-63576-X.  ^ a b Nemeck, Larry. "A Fistful of Data", Star Trek Magazine, Titan Magazines, January 2007, p. 81. ^ "New Movie Costumes Planned", Star Trek Monthly, Titan Magazines, June 1996, p. 7. ^ a b c d e Okuda, Michael & Denise (1997). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-35607-9.  Images accessible at 2366-2372 Ranks. Spike's Star Trek Page Rank Chart. Retrieved on December 26, 2006. ^ Nemeck, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.  ^ Dillard, J.M.; Michael Piller and Rick Berman (1998-02-01). Emissary, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671798588.  ^ Spelling, Ian. "A Question of Rank...", Star Trek Monthly, Titan Magazines, June 1996, p. 55. ^ Erdmann, Terry with Block, Paula M (2000). Deep Space Nine Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671501062.  ^ Answers (August 28, 1998). ^ "Where No One Has Gone Before". Star Trek: The Next Generation. ^ "Inquisition". Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ^ Stuart, Rick & Terra, John (1988). Star Trek The Next Generation Officer's Manual. Chicago: FASA Corporation. ISBN 1-55560-079-4.  [edit] See also Starfleet uniforms List of Starfleet officers List of Starfleet officers by rank Hollywood Pins Naval officer ranks Ranks and insignia of NATO [edit] External links Description of Starfleet ranks The Trekker's Galactopedia Starfleet ranks article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.