Starfleet Officer Rank Insignia
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Have you ever been watching Star Trek, and you had a hard time telling your lieutenants from your commanders? If so, then this is the video for you! In our continuing mission to explore Star Trek lore, this video examines Starfleet officer rank insignia for different eras of the prime timeline. I won't be covering enlisted ranks, since their use in Star Trek has been sporadic, at best.
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I think the TNG/DS9/VOY era rank insignia system is by far the most effective, straightforward, and recognizable. At the other end of the spectrum is the TOS movie system with all its unusual shapes and features.
Has there ever been a canonical, semi-, beta, or otherwise, explaining the change from one insignia system to another? Maybe an influential new Federation member species really big into abstract symbols rather than sequential ones?
To me, the candy shaped captain rank symbol will be forever iconic.
I know there isn't a lot of information, but a video on enlisted and non commissioned officer ranks would be great.
I like the TOS movie rank pins the best
They are quite distinctive.
Same here. To me those feel more authentic and more like actual ranks
They also had proper insignia for enlisted such as Petty Officer and Chief Petty Officer.
Actually, in the classic star trek series Ensign Chekov's rank quite rightly was indicated by a braid free gold uniform, not a broken braid insignia. The single broken braid signifies the junior grade Lieutenant rank. (JG)🤓
They also had a warrant officer, they had the black pip , O'Brien's rank and later a ensign and a lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant, but was always refered to has chief O'Brien in the different series
In the Navy of today, Captain can be both a rank and a title. The commanding officer of a commissioned vessel is typically called Captain, regardless of his or her rank. The Captain of the first ship I served on was a Commander (in rank), but was always called Captain while he was assigned to be the commanding officer of the ship.
That situation comes up in Star Trek also, such as when Jadzia is temporarily in command of the Defiant. Thanks for watching!
Isn't the exact rank of the captain based on the type of vessel they command?
@@jameswhitfield6220 yes and no…. For many classes of vessel there is a rank that is typically held by its commanding officer…. BUT there are situations where an officer of a lower rank will be assigned command and command as that lower rank while awaiting formal promotion, just as there may be time a commanding officer will be given a promotion in rank, but will remain in their current position while awaiting a promotion in position to a command befitting ones rank …..
Its easier to explain this if one looks at the command structure in the army…. A company commander is typically an O3 captain, his XO a O-2 a first Lt, his platoon leaders a mix of O2 and O1 Lts
His Company NCOIC will be an E8 MasterSgt/1st sgt…. His platoon sgts will be E7 SFC , his squad leaders a mix of Staff sgts maybe a few E5 buck sgts ….
Vacancies filled from within might be staffed by a lower officer or non commissioned officer…. While at the same time you might have individuals get promoted in rank, but remain in their current position awaiting a new position to open up
It's interesting that Commodore Decker's insignia is, if you look closely, one petal of the starbase duty sunburst flower seen worn by starbase personnel. Since Decker is a flag officer with a field command he has a unique insignia instead of the typical sunburst flower shown in several episodes. Also notice that it doesn't have the command department star emblem seen on the Delta (arrowhead) His first officer would likely have been a captain and he would have worn the Delta.
In TOS, I think in the Naked Time episode, we briefly see a Lt. Jr. grade with one broken stripe of braid. He's in the mess hall and pulls a knife on crew at his table before turning it towards himself, and peole attempt to restrain him. He's in science blue and somewhere in the episode, his rank and maybe his name are given. But during TOS, ensigns (like Chekov) had no dashed stripe of braid. The lt. j.g. rank is also shown in the Franz Josef Starfleet Technical Manual, if I remember right. Supposedly during TOS, Gene did not want anyone below ensign or cadet/midshipman, because he felt Starfleet officers would be highly trained, college educated, but also because he wanted Starfleet to be less military, more exploratory, and he thought rank would not have as much meaning. Later the movies and later series (and fans) had chief petty officers, petty officers, and specialists / airmen / astronauts and maybe warrant officers, such as Chief Miles O'Brien. -- I recall reading that the rank insignia pins used on the monster maroons for TWOK and later were originally planned for Romulans 9or maybe Klingons?) but were used instead for Starfleet, partly so that Saavik's rank and status would not be obvious at first in the opening scene of the movie, with the Kobayashi Maru Test, to surprise and shock the audience. -- And yes, Commodore and the term Lt. Jr. Grade are awkward and borrowed from the pre-1970/s US Navy.
the commander of the space station in STB was a commodore, i always felt that Sisko should have been a Commodore not a captain
it would've been better if kirk was merely demoted to 1 star admiral (or at bare minimum fleet captain) after star trek IV would've made it less awkward to have spock as his XO and scotty (also captain by this point) to serve as his CEO.
You make a good point.
@@JohnDiMarco actually the funny thing about star trek TOS and star trek TNG is that by the end of their franchises the senior staff was so top rank heavy.
TOS - kirk/scotty/spock - captain
sulu - captain of the excelsior
chekov/uhura/mccoy - commanders
TNG - picard - captain
riker captain of the titan
laforge/crusher/troi/data/worf - commanders
Well done John!
Thank you!
Nco officers would be nice
There never did seem to be enough enlisted crew, and NCOs in particular, in Starfleet. As a result, enlisted insignia was only sporadically used.
NCO=Non Commissioned Officer. Sorry. That made this former NCO's ocd kick in. But I jest. I agree with more enlisted being shown in all seriousness
I think in the TNG era, the rank of one star admiral was Rear Admiral, Lower Half, like it is in the USN
Nice video.
Thank you!
you also forgot Fleet Captain the rank Garth held
Yes, Garth and Pike were both referred to as fleet captains. However, it is uncertain if fleet captain is a separate rank in the chain of command; it could also be a specific assignment or an honorary title. As far as I know, no rank insignia specifically for fleet captain appeared on screen. Thanks for watching.
Enlisted ranks and duty’s
Commodore is now rear admiral lower half with 1 pip on both sides, while rear admiral upper half is 2 pips on both sides
Thanks!
The British Royal Navy still has the rank of Commodore. Pretty similar to USN except they have Midshipman and Sub Lieutenant instead of Ensign and Lieutenant Junior Grade. Likewise Commodore instead of Rear Admiral Lower Half.
@@countofdownable Very interesting. Thanks!
Thanks
Thank you for watching.
You for got the warrant officer ranks and fleet captain rank
Good summary.
Star fleet hand held weapons?
Interesting idea. Thanks for watching.
Your welcome, thanks for the content!
Cartwright was a Fleet Admiral. What was above him ?? If Kirk wasn't busted he still had a long way to go
You also had a fleet captain rank.
you are missing chief and warrant officers, basically non coms
Did cadets wear one black pip?
Cadets are a little different. In "The First Duty," for example, the cadets seem to be wearing elongated pips, with the number corresponding their year at the Academy.
Where does Fleet Captain fit?
It is not entirely certain if fleet captain is its own rank, or rather a special position or honor granted to certain captains. To my knowledge, specific rank insignia for fleet captain was never seen on screen. Thanks for watching.
@@JohnDiMarco Since the only 2 people we saw who held it were Pike and Garth who were holding it under unusual circumstances lead me to believe it's an honor.
I guess Star Fleet had no enlisted personnel?
I am a Petty Officer 3rd Class of Starfleet.
section 31
Thanks for watching. As for Section 31, a super secret organization that almost nobody knows about probably wouldn't have much in the way of rank insignia.
But starfeet isn’t a military
Thank you for your input, Captain Picard.
I'm glad you explained those rank pins in the Star Trek movies. Funny thing however, Kirk was refered as an Admiral, yet his rank pin is Rear Admiral. We've been mis led.
Unless a rear admiral is considered an admiral.
@@johnbockelie3899 Thanks for watching! As for Kirk's rank, it is common naval practice to refer to any admiral rank as simply "admiral" in conversation. A similar example would be Data, whose rank was lieutenant commander but who was often addressed as just "commander."
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