on gold and vice versa. In 1851, the epaulettes became universally gold. Both majors and second lieutenants had no specific insignia. A major would have been recognizable as he would have worn the more elaborate epaulette fringes of a senior field officer. The rank insignia was silver for senior officers and gold for the bars of captains and first lieutenants. The reason for the choice of silver eagles over gold ones is thought to be one of economy; there were more cavalry and artillery colonels than infantry so it was cheaper to replace the numerically fewer gold ones. Shoulder straps were adopted to replace epaulettes for field duty in 1836. Licensed officers of the U.S. Merchant Marine may wear shoulder marks and sleeve stripes appropriate to their rank and branch of service. Deck officers wear a foul anchor above the stripes on their shoulder marks and engineering officers wear a three-bladed propeller. In the U.S. Merchant Marine, the correct wear of shoulder marks depicting the fouled anchor is with the un-fouled stock of the anchor forward on the wearer. In popular culture In literature, film and political satire, dictators, particularly of unstable Third World nations, are often depicted in military dress with oversized gold epaulettes. The eponymous character of Revolutionary Girl Utena along with the rest of the duelists have stylised epaulettes on their uniforms. The members of the Teikoku Kageki-dan from Sakura Wars have epaulettes on their uniforms. Grand Admiral Thrawn, a member on the Galactic Empire's Imperial Fleet on the Star Wars franchise including Star Wars Rebels wore gold epaulettes on his uniform. Clara Stahlbaum and Captain Philip Hoffman on the 2018 film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms wore epaulettes on their uniforms. The Genie wore gold epaulettes on some suits in the 1992 film Aladdin and the 1996 sequel Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Stephen Fry wore gold epaulettes when playing the Duke of Wellington on Blackadder the Third. Gallery See also Shoulder loops in the uniform of the Boy Scouts of America Spaulder Aiguillette Attentes Swallow's nest (uniform) References Military life Military uniforms Scouting uniform Fashion accessories Armwear Shoulder