Officers

Uniforms for naval officers were not authorised until 1748. At first the cut and style of the uniform differed considerably between ranks and specific rank insignia only sporadically used.

Ranks could be indicated by embroidery on the cuffs, by arrangement of buttons or, after 1795, on epaulettes. However there was no consistent system and insignia might differ between uniforms, and were altered several times. Sometimes there was no specific indication of rank at all.

Midshipmen received a white patch on the collar in 1758, the oldest badge still in use today.

The modern system of gold stripes on the cuffs originated in 1856. For the first time these were consistently applied to all blue uniforms.

In 1863 the lower ranks were changed:

In 1877 a Lieutenant of 8 years seniority got an additional half-stripe of ³/₁₆-in, increased to ¼in in 1891.

In 1914 the rank of Lieutenant-Commander was created and given the insignia of the 8-year Lieutenant.

In 1919 the admirals' narrow stripe was reduced to ½in, but as King George V had not approved the change, the royal family continued to wear the wider stripe.

In 1931 all the ½in stripes were all increased to ⁹/₁₆in.

The curl was introduced in 1856, but initially only the military (or executive) and navigating (masters) branches wore it.

Other branches had plain stripes, from 1863 with coloured cloth between or below them. Until 1891 officers of the 'civil' branches had single breasted coats with different arrangements of buttons.

Except for the medical branches, these distinctions were all abolished in 1955.

From 1955 to 1993 there was a rank of Acting Sub-Lieutenant, with the same rank insignia as a Sub-Lieutenant.

Naval pilots in the Fleet Air Arm (and earlier the Royal Naval Air Service) have wings above the curl. Other Fleet Air Arm officers had a letter 'A' inside the curl.

On dress uniforms rank badges could also be shown on epaulettes. The system changed several times, but after 1864 were as follows:

Sub-lieutenants and commissioned warrant officers wore epaulettes without fringe (officially termed "shoulder straps") and the same device as a lieutenant.

Epaulettes of the military branch were gold throughout with silver devices, while those of the civil branches had a silver edging and gold devices. Instead of the baton and sword or foul anchor, civil branch epaulettes substituted a star. Navigating branch epaulettes were the same as the military branch, but with crossed plain anchors in place of the foul anchor. The epaulette stars had eight points, quite unlike the Order of the Bath stars worn by army officers.

In 1891 the Admiral of the Fleet changed to a crown above two crossed batons within a wreath, similar to the badge of a Field Marshal.

Also in 1891 shoulder-straps were introduced for use on white uniforms and on the greatcoat, and more recently in "shirt sleeve order". For these Commodores 1st Class and above use the same badge as on their epaulettes, Commodores 2nd Class and below use their rank stripes.

From 1926 only Commodores had 2 stars, other captains one.

Epaulettes were not worn after 1939.

In 2001, the shoulder boards on dress uniforms were changed and are currently:

Warrant Officers

Warrant Officers first received their uniforms in 1787. The navigators, surgeons and pursers were commissioned in 1843 and their insignia are described above.

In 1865 Chief (or Commissioned) Warrant Officers were given a single ½in stripe, with the curl for gunners and boatswains, without for carpenters.

In 1891 ordinary Warrant Officers of 10 years standing were given a half-stripe of ¼in, with or without curl as above.

In 1918 this stripe, with the curl, was extended to all non-commissioned Warrant Officers.

In 1949 WOs and CWOs became "Commissioned Branch Officers" and "Senior Commissioned Branch Officers" and were admitted to the wardroom, but their insignia remained the same.

In 1956 they were integrated into the line officers as Sub-Lieutenants and Lieutenants, and class distinctions finally disappeared from the uniform.

Reserves

From 1863 officers were commissioned in the Royal Naval Reserve. They had stripes each formed from two ¼-inch wavy lines intersecting each other. The curl was formed into a 6-pointed star. The Lt Cdr's half-stripe was straight, but only ⅛ inch wide. The commodore had a broad straight stripe, but the same star for a curl. Midshipmen had a blue collar patch.

Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (formed 1903) had single wavy stripes ¼ inch wide, with the curl a squarish shape. The Lt Cdr's narrow stripe was originally straight, but after 1942 was waved also. Midshipmen had a maroon collar patch.

In 1951 both reserves lost their distinctive insignia and got normal straight stripes like the regulars, but with a letter 'R' inside the curl. The 2 organisations were merged in 1958.

In 2007 Officers of the RNR removed the 'R' distinction from badges of rank.

Wrens

Officers in the Women's Royal Naval Service had straight stripes in light blue, with a diamond shape instead of the curl. The WRNS was abolished in 1994 and female officers now have the same uniform as the men.

External links

• Royal Navy official webpage on Uniforms and Badges of Rank
• Mistakes in the Application of British-style Armed Forces Rank Insignia
• Late 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Naval and Naval Social History index, including uniform regulations
• Royal Navy ranks, professions, trades and badges of rank in World War II