"Other ranks" (abbreviated "ORs") is the term used to refer to all ranks below officers in the British Army and the Royal Marines. It includes warrant officers, non-commissioned officers ("NCOs") and ordinary soldiers with the rank of private or regimental equivalent. Officers may, in speaking, distinguish themselves from those "in the ranks". History During the 18th century corporals might indicate their ranks with a knot with cord loops on their right shoulder and, from 1768, an epaulette instead. Sergeants had clothing that was of slightly better quality and wore lace trim on their hats and uniforms. Infantry sergeants were armed with fusils (grenadier companies, from 1769), halberds or, from 1792 until 1830, with spontoons. They, as well as their counterparts in cavalry and artillery, were also permitted sashes of crimson wool, with a single stripe of facing colour following the clothing regulations of 1727. Whereas it remained vague as to whether the sash was to be worn over the shoulder or around the waist, it was clarified in 1747 that sergeants had to wear their sashes around the waist. From 1768, the sergeant's waist sash had stripes of facing colour one (until 1825) resp. three (until 1845); in regiments with red or purple facings the sergeant's sash had white stripes or remained plain crimson. Sergeants of highland regiments wore their sashes over the left shoulder and tied at the right hip in the same manner as the officers. Beginning from the same year, sergeants wore a pair of silk epaulettes with fringe while sergeant-majors had a pair of gold or silver laced epaulettes with bullion fringe. The chevrons worn by many non-commissioned officers are based on heraldic devices and their current use originates from 1802. As today, sergeants wore three chevrons, point downwards, on the upper arm, and corporals wore two, with sergeant-majors and quarter-master-sergeants then having four. Whereas corporals and sergeants discarded their silk epaulettes by now, sergeant-majors continued to wear their metal epaulettes along with their new chevrons for a while. Lance corporal, at the time, not a rank but an appointment is historically known as chosen man and carrying extra pay for privates holding it, were given a single chevron a few years later, and later in the century, the lance-sergeant appeared, wearing three chevrons. The infantry rank of colour sergeant was created in 1813 as a reward for senior sergeants with one allowed per company. He