Starfleet ranks and insignia

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The Starfleet insignia in the late 23rd century
The Starfleet insignia in the late 23rd century

Starfleet ranks and insignia are fictional titles and badges that form the hierarchy of Starfleet in the Star Trek television shows and movies. Starfleet's ranks are based on those used by the United States Navy.

Contents

[edit] Overview

In Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 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, ranks are indicated by varying numbers of pips or bars on the individuals' uniform collars.

Some licensed Star Trek publications present some insignia that contradict the ones shown on screen or in other publications. For example, the second and third editions of The Star Trek Encyclopedia offer differing insignia for various Starfleet ranks.[1] Additionally, some Star Trek publications, including officially licensed ones, posit additional ranks that are not seen or mentioned in live-action productions.

[edit] Enterprise

Though the most recent Trek series, the prequel Star Trek: Enterprise, is set prior to all other incarnations, this series did not include characters who hold the ranks of lieutenant commander or lieutenant, junior grade, therefore the highest-ranking admiral seen wears two (2) sets of three (3)-pip insignia.

[edit] The Original Series pilot episodes

Officers in the first Star Trek pilot, "The Cage", wear a single sleeve stripe, with only the officer grades "lieutenant" and "captain" used in dialog. A "chief" is also visible wearing a different sleeve 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.

[edit] The Original Series and The Motion Picture

Costumes in The Original Series were designed by William Ware Theiss and indicate rank with sleeve stripes. Bob Fletcher continued this system when he designed the uniforms for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There are fewer stripes than are on US Navy uniforms because four stripes for a captain would have looked "too militaristic".[2]

Original Series Flag Officer ranks
Fleet Admiral Admiral Vice Admiral Rear Admiral Commodore
[3] [3] [3] [3] [3]
Original Series Officer ranks
Captain Commander Lieutenant
Commander		 Lieutenant Lieutenant,
Junior Grade		 Ensign
[3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]


A rank of fleet captain is mentioned in two episodes, but no insignia is shown. An August 3, 1978 memo describing the sleeve stripes for The Motion Picture does not mention the rank of lieutenant j.g., and identifies the rear admiral insignia as having one double-width stripe below one 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.[4] 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's assignment patch in the original series is used as an emblem by the entire Starfleet.[5] 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 ship and crew 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.[2]

[edit] The Motion Picture to Generations

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 shoulder strap and left sleeve just above the armband.

During this era, insignia representing departments are not worn; it is instead indicated by the color of the shoulder strap, arm band and collar.[4] A Starfleet insignia is worn on the left breast.

Flag officers also wore an arm band on their left sleeve just below the rank insignia that denoted their rank.

Flag Officer ranks
Commander in Chief Fleet Admiral Admiral
[6] [6] [6]


Vice Admiral Rear Admiral Commodore
[6] [6] [6]


Flag Officer ranks
Fleet Admiral Admiral Vice Admiral Rear Admiral Commodore
[6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
Officer ranks
Captain Commander Lieutenant
Commander		 Lieutenant Lieutenant,
Junior Grade		 Ensign
[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]

Enlisted crew in the TOS movie era wear the following insignia on their left sleeve:

Enlisted ranks
Master Chief Petty Officer Senior Chief Petty Officer Chief Petty Officer Petty Officer 1st Class Petty Officer 2nd Class Ables'man
[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]

[edit] The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager

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.[4]

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.

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.[4]

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.[7] This new commbadge is also used in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from season three, and in Voyager.

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

Officer ranks
Rank Captain Commander Lieutenant
Commander		 Lieutenant Lieutenant,
Junior Grade		 Ensign
TNG, DS9, VOY [4] [4] [4] [4] [4] [4]
Voyager provisional [4] [4] [4] [4] [4] [4]

[edit] Alternate realities and 29th century

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Future Imperfect", officers wear a series of stripes behind the Starfleet delta. Another episode, "Parallels", see this in addition to the collar insignia; the bars correspond to the rank of the officer, matching the number (and type) of rank pips.

The 29th-century officers in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Relativity" wear chevron-like collar insignia.

[edit] Captain

As in many real life navies, captain within the Star Trek universe can refer to a commissioned Starfleet officer rank or the title held by the commander of a ship irrespective of their actual rank. The rank first appears in Star Trek's initial pilot, "The Cage", and is held by Christopher Pike, who commands the USS Enterprise. Dozens of captains, both seen and unseen, have played minor and major roles throughout Star Trek's various incarnations.

Captain Jonathan Archer commands Star Trek: Enterprise's titular ship one hundred years before Captains April, Pike and James T. Kirk command a starship of the same name.

The Animated Series states that Captain Robert April preceded Pike as commander of the Enterprise. However, while April's tenure as commander of the Enterprise is generally accepted by fans, Star Trek's producers have never made this canon.[4]

Pike wears a single rank stripe, the same as all other officers aboard the USS Enterprise. Kirk, however, wears distinct captain's insignia.

Other captains who appear in the original Star Trek series include the captain of a merchant vessel in "Charlie X", two captains on Kirk's court-martial board in "Court Martial", Captain Ronald Tracey of the USS Exeter in "The Omega Glory", and the dead captain of the USS Defiant in "The Tholian Web".[4]

The Star Trek feature films include multiple captains, starting with Willard Decker in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and continuing with Spock's promotion to captain at some point before the beginning of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.[4] Spock becomes captain of the Enterprise, although he eventually returns to serving as Kirk's first officer. Montgomery Scott is promoted to the rank of captain in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, but, after a brief assignment to the USS Excelsior, continues to serve as chief engineer under Kirk. This is case in point-holding the rank but not the position of "Captain."[4] Star Trek III also includes Captain Styles, commanding officer of the USS Excelsior.[4] Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home includes the first appearance of a female Starfleet captain, in command of the USS Saratoga.[4] Hikaru Sulu is promoted to captain and becomes master of the USS Excelsior a few years before the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country[4] (a scene mentioning Sulu's promotion to captain and assignment as commander of the Excelsior was scripted but cut from Star Trek II[8]). William Riker is promoted to captain in Star Trek: Nemesis and is given the command of the USS Titan.[9]

Other Star Trek captains include Captain John Harriman of the Enterprise-B, Captain Rachel Garrett of the Enterprise-C, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E, Captain Benjamin Sisko of the space station Deep Space Nine and the starship USS Defiant, and Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager.[4]

In one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, Captain Geordi La Forge is in command of the USS Challenger. This is during an episode in which Harry Kim and Chakotay are attempting to save Voyager from being destroyed in the past after a failed test of a new propulsion system. The USS Challenger under Captain La Forge is dispatched to capture Harry and Chakotay on the Delta Flyer. La Forge was shown with the same four rank pips as Captains from TNG, DS9, and VOY.

In TNG, DS9 and VOY, the insignia for a captain is four pips on the collar.

[edit] Continuity conflicts

[edit] TOS movies

MCPO 2nd Class insignia
[4]

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 it as a "fleet captain" insignia.[10][4] The Encyclopedia also lists a "Master Chief Petty Officer, 2nd Class" insignia, which is the same as the MCPO, but without the hat.

Lieutenant Commander insignia

Star Trek VI[11]
Mr. Scott's Guide[10]
Hollywood Pins

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 design different from that worn by Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.[10][4][11] 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 the same parts of these pins colored in gold.

[edit] TNG and later series

Miles O'Brien wears two gold pips and is referred to as a lieutenant early in The Next Generation. While wearing this insignia in "Family", he is referred to as a chief petty officer by Worf's stepfather; the TNG Companion regards this as an error.[12] He wears this insignia until the sixth season, when he wears a hollow gold pip identified by The Star Trek Encyclopedia as the "chief warrant officer" insignia. In the pilot episode of Deep Space Nine, "Emissary", he again wears a two-pip insignia; the episode's novelization refers to him as "ensign, junior grade".[13] He wears the one-pip device in the next episode, "Past Prologue".[14] From the fourth season on, he wears a new rank insignia, and dialog in "Hippocratic Oath" identifies him as a "chief petty officer". Deep Space Nine's writers 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]

Other insignia appear but the rank, if any, 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.[17]

[edit] References

  1. ^ 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 2006-12-26.
  2. ^ a b Sackett, Susan and Gene Roddenberry (1980). The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671791095. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 2006-12-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Okuda, Michael & Denise (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5. 
  5. ^ Okuda, Mike; Okuda, Denise (1996). Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53610-9. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Fletcher, Robert (1986). Robert Fletcher's Wardrobe Designer Personal Notes of Star Trek I-II-III. California: Lincoln Enterprises.  Graphic Images accessible at 2278-2350 Ranks & Rates. Spike's Star Trek Page Rank Chart.
  7. ^ "New Movie Costumes Planned", Star Trek Monthly, Titan Magazines, June 1996, p. 7. 
  8. ^ Takei, George (1995). To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei, Star Trek's Mr. Sulu. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-89009-3. 
  9. ^ Star Trek Nemesis.
  10. ^ a b c Johnson, Shane (1987). Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-63576-X. 
  11. ^ a b Nemeck, Larry, A Fistful of Data, Titan, January 2007.
  12. ^ Nemeck, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6. 
  13. ^ Dillard, J.M.; Michael Piller and Rick Berman (1998-02-01). Emissary, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671798588. 
  14. ^ Spelling, Ian. ""A Question of Rank..."", 'Star Trek Monthly', Titan Magazines, June 1996, p. 55. 
  15. ^ Erdmann, Terry with Block, Paula M (2000). Deep Space Nine Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671501062. 
  16. ^ Answers (August 28, 1998).
  17. ^ Stuart, Rick & Terra, John (1988). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual". Chicago: FASA Corporation. ISBN 1-55560-079-4. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links