of sleeve, shoulder and collar insignia, similar to that used by the Naval ROTC units. United States Coast Guard Academy There are two types of insignia used by Coast Guard Academy cadets. The first is a metal pin-on device. It is a colored shield with a gold anchor with a silver star above it. The color of the background denotes the class. The colors are green for 4/c, red for 3/c, white for 2/c and blue for 1/c. The colors all have historic meanings: red and green represent the running lights on a vessel; white signifies the white lights used as navigation lights, signifying the role as guides for the 4/c; blue represents the blue lights of law enforcement vessels that that 1/c are about to serve aboard. The second type of insignia is shoulder boards. All cadet shoulder boards have a slightly smaller version of the shield found on officer shoulder boards, and stripes denoting class year or 1/c leadership positions. The 4/c have no stripes, 3/c 1 diagonal stripe, 2/c 2 diagonal stripes, and 1/c 1 horizontal stripe. First class leadership positions have increasing numbers of horizontal stripes, up to six for the Regimental Commander or Summer Battalion Commander, as well as a matching number of sleeve stripes on the Service Dress Blues and Parade Dress Blue uniforms. See also Comparative military ranks UK officer ranks RAF officer ranks Cadet Corps (Russia) References External links OfficerCadet.com Military ranks Military ranks of Canada Military ranks of Australia Military ranks of the British Army Military ranks of the United States Army Military ranks of the United States Air Force Officer ranks of the United States Space Force Military ranks of the Royal Air Force Military ranks of the Royal Navy