The rank of an officer of the Army is indicated in two ways, first, by insignia of rank placed upon the epaulets and shoulder knots worn with full dress uniform, upon the shoulder straps worn with dress uniform, upon the cloth shoulder straps of the service coats and white coats and upon the collar of the olive-drab flannel shirt when it is worn without the coat; second, by the insignia upon the sleeves of the full dress coat, the special evening dress coat, the overcoat and the blue and white mess jackets, this braiding being of gold on the full dress coat, special evening dress coat and blue mess jacket, black upon the overcoat and white upon the white mess jacket.
The insignia of rank referred to above for the various ranks of officers, as shown in the illustrations, are as follows:
General—Four silver stars.
Lieutenant General—One large silver star and two smaller ones, one on each side of the larger star.
Major General—Two silver stars, one inch in diameter.
Brigadier General—One silver star, one inch in diameter.
Colonel—A silver spread eagle, three-quarters of an inch high and two inches from tip to tip of wings.
Lieutenant Colonel—A silver oak leaf, one inch high and one inch wide.
Major—A gold oak leaf, one inch high and one inch wide.
Captain—Two silver bars, one inch long and one-quarter of an inch wide.