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]] Starfleet ranks and insignia are fictional titles and badges that form the Hierarchy of Starfleet in the TV show '' Star Trek '' and its spinoffs. Starfleet's ranks are based on those used by the United States Navy . In '', ranks are indicated by sleeve stripes; in later movies based on the original series, ranks are indicated by pins on a shoulder strap. In later television series, rank is indicated by a varying number of pips. Some licensed Star Trek publications present insignia that sometimes contradict the ones shown on screen or in other publications. For example, the second and third editions of '' The Star Trek Encyclopedia '' offer differing insignias for various Starfleet ranks.1 and 2 Images accessible at 3 Additionally, some Star Trek publications, including officially licensed ones, posit additional ranks that are not seen or spoken of in live action productions. __TOC__ PILOTS Officers in the first ''Star Trek'' pilot, " The Cage ", wear a single sleeve stripe, with only the officer grades "lieutenant" and "captain" use in dialog. A "chief" is also visible wearing a different stripe. Characters addressed as "crewman" wear no sleeve insignia. In the second pilot episode, " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", most officers again wear a single stripe; Captain James T. Kirk wears two stripes. Gary Mitchell is identified as a lieutenant commander. ''THE ORIGINAL SERIES'' AND ''THE MOTION PICTURE'' Costumes in ''The Original Series'' were designed by '' uniforms, which Bob Fletcher designed. There are fewer stripes than used by the US Navy because four stripes for "captain" would have looked too militaristic.5 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.9 Within this assignment patch is a symbol that represents the officer's department, with operations, science and command represented by a spiral, a circle, and a star, respectively. In ''The Motion Picture'', the emblem used as the USS ''Enterprise'' assignment patch in the original series is shown as an emblem by the entire Starfleet.10 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 from its five-year mission with crew and ship mostly intact. In ''The Motion Picture'', the department is 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. ''TOS'' MOVIE ERA Fletcher redesigned the costumes for ''''. In this costume, Starfleet officers wear rank insignia on the uniform shoulder strap and left sleeve just above the armband. During this era, insignia representing department are not worn; it is instead indicated by the color of the shoulder strap, armband and collar. A Starfleet insignia is worn on the left breast. Enlisted crew in the ''TOS'' movie era wear the following insignia on their left sleeve: Conflicts The pins seen in the Star Trek motion pictures have generated several alternate and conflicting versions from various official, semi-official, and non-canon sources. The 1986 book '' Mr. Scott's Guide To The Enterprise '' identifies the insignia at left as a "commodore" insignia while ''The Star Trek Encyclopedia'' refers to as a "fleet captain" insignia.13 The ''Encyclopedia'' also lists a ''Master Chief Petty Officer 2nd class'' insignia, which is the same as the ''MCPO'', but without the hat. Additionally, there are different representations of the lieutenant commander rank pin. ''Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise'', and subsequent sources such as the ''Star Trek Encyclopedia'', show a different design than that worn by ''. A third version of the pin, showing a solid vertical bar, appeared in Hollywood Pins ' catalogs. Fletcher's notes indicate that the "hat" and other parts of some of these pins are steel gray while ''The Star Trek Encyclopedia'' has diagrams of these parts of the same pins colored in gold. 24TH-CENTURY SPIN-OFFS 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 '''', 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. For the first season of ''TNG'', admirals wear a different insignia, consisting of a triangle or stripe resembling gold weave along the right collar; one or two gold pips are sometimes underneath the weave. Three variants are visible in " Conspiracy ": Admiral Quinn's insignia has no pips, Admiral Savar's has one, and Admiral Aaron's has two. '''' 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. A Starfleet insignia is worn on the left breast: this also functions as a '' from season three, and ''Voyager''. Enlisted and cadet ranks are seen rarely; their insignia are unclear.
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