![]() The embroidered rank insignia usually appeared on the epaulette strap or near the "crescent," the rounded portion over the end of the shoulder. Marine officers wore epaulettes on their special full dress uniforms until 1922. Navy officers also started wearing epaulettes during the Revolutionary War and did not give them up for their full dress uniforms until just before World War II. Army general wore epaulettes until early in the Twentieth Century. In our Army officers started wearing gold or silver epaulettes in 1780 during the Revolutionary War and continued to do so until 1872, mostly on their dress uniforms. Epaulettes for Sergeants and other enlisted men were of cheaper metals or cloth. They were also very expensive being made of gold or silver, sometimes solid metal and other times plated. To some they looked like fancy hair brushes. ![]() By the time of our Revolutionary War epaulettes worn by British and French officers had become elaborate affairs of gold or silver that started at the collar and ended at the point of the shoulder with heavy fringes of gold or silver wire. Another story has them beginning as pieces of armor to protect the shoulders. Epaulettes, from epaule an old French word for shoulder, seem to have started out as cloth straps worn on the shoulders to help keep shoulder sashes and belts in position. Before the Twentieth Century epaulettes and shoulder straps were common devices to signal rank.
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