shoulder boards () edged with gold braid and a gold wreathed trident at the inner end. Junior officers () added an appropriate number of five-pointed gold stars to their boards whilst field grade officers () had a single lotus leaf rosette, plus an appropriate number of five-pointed gold stars. Field Marshals and General officers () had a gold leaf design around the lower half of their shoulder boards plus two or more five-pointed silver stars. Senior and junior NCOs () – including Private 1st class – wore cloth chevrons on both upper sleeves; enlisted men () wore no insignia. In the field, officers' shoulder boards were initially replaced by metal rank insignia pinned to simple rectangular red cloth tabs sewn over the right shirt or combat jacket pocket, but some senior officers kept the custom of wearing instead a single chest tab () buttoned or pinned to the shirt's front fly following French Army practice. By the late 1960s, an American-style system was adopted in which metal pin-on or embroidered cloth rank insignia – either in yellow-on-green full-colour or black-on-green subdued form – were worn on the right collar, though photographic evidence shows that officers on the field also had the habit of displaying their rank insignia on berets, baseball caps, bush hats and (more rarely) on steel helmets. Rank insignia Branch insignia RLA skill and trade badges also came in gilt metal and/or enamelled pin-on and cloth embroidered yellow or black-on-green subdued variants. On dress and service uniforms, they were worn on both collars by all-ranks if shoulder boards were worn, but in the field officers wore them on the left shirt collar only if worn alongside collar rank insignia; enlisted ranks usually wore branch insignia on both collars instead. Unit insignia Yellow and subdued nametapes were occasionally worn above the right shirt or jacket pocket on field dress; plastic nameplates were worn with the service and dress uniforms. Elite formations such as the Special Commando Company of the 2nd RLA Strike Division had their unit designation printed over their left pocket. See also 1967 Opium War Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Air America Battle of Lang Vei Directorate of National Coordination Hmong people North Vietnamese invasion of Laos Pathet Lao Khmer National Armed Forces Lao Veterans of America Lao Veterans of America Institute Laos Memorial Laotian Civil War Royal Lao Air Force Royal Lao Army Airborne