So, working on building out my own sci fi universe. This includes ships, costumes, uniforms, systems of government, ranks and insignia, among other things. Here are some ideas for Flag Officers.
Here is just the Fleet Commander rank. Tried to get some texture to the stripes. Used blend, spiral tools in Gimp to make it. Not sure how well it works.
Might want to use something other than a five-point star on the line officer ranks. Looks very much like classic US Navy. Maybe a UN style insignia like the flag ranks?
Yes, it does. The star is kind of a place holder while working on other designs. A star shape is a preloaded design form that comes with these graphics programs, so it was easy to make. The symbol above the stripes in practice will vary by job type, as it will on the enlisted ranks as well.
Here's one I was working on. To add more texture as opposed to just the flat diamond shapes for the Flag officers. They could be used as rank insignia instead of stripes, or could also be used over the stripes in place of the star. Both are shown.
Different nations (on Earth anyway) used different methods to denote rank - though shoulder boards were very common among the officer ranks. The main thing to keep in mind is - it needs to be clear "who's in charge"... Otherwise, have fun!
In the larger story Earth is in protracted conflict with Euros, a white nationalist colony world. In creating the Eurosian ranks, I decided to take more influence from Eastern European insignia styles. They also use families of colors for jobs types. Shades of red for the medical professions, etc. Here is the Captain/Colonel rank insignia shown with the blues.
Really enjoy seeing this design process. Part of it is selfish as I am also working to design my own. Part of it is really liking watching this evolution as you figure out it all fits together. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you! Ive been kicking this around on and off for years. Now trying to finish it. The United Earth Alliance ranks at the top are pretty complete. Eurosian ones I am still working on. As you can see I finally decided to use that textured diamond shape for the Eurosians. Ive worked out the 25 colors that they use. White is for command (Space Warfare Officer).
The Reds (Medical). "Medical services" means people with a doctorate that is not an MD, like Pharmacists, Podiatrists, Optometrists, etc.
I'm not sure you would need the enlisted ER-0. When I entered in the Navy in the 1980s, i did as an E-3 (originally, Advanced Electronics program) but I still wasn't authorized to wear the insignia of an E-3 until completion of Boot Camp not did being an E-3 confer any more privileges or authority than a corresponding E-1 (except for the pay.) We were all Recruits because the Navy said we were, regardless of our paygrade. Which would mean that you also wouldn't need a designation for ER-1.
Yeah, I thought about that. However, in looking over comparative ranks worldwide there is a lot of variation. Some countries have as few as 5 enlisted ranks. Some have as many as 17. That's a big difference. So it's a matter of trading off different ideas about how to go about this. In order to reflect that, and also make it somewhat unique at the same time, I created the R/T basic ranks. Recruit from enlistment to completion of basic training. Then a "Trainee" until completion of the appropriate job related school.
What were the relative sizes of the militaries in question? I think it follows that the larger the organization the deeper the hierarchy needs to be.
Yes, and often that is true, but not always. Norway has 13 enlisted ranks, and Luxembourg 14 despite very small armies. Whereas France has only 10, despite a far larger one.