the Enterprise assignment patch near the waist as a belt fastener. Rank and insignia The production rank system worked out by series creator Gene Roddenberry and costume designer Bill Theiss resembles that of the United States Navy, in contrast to other science fiction franchises that use an army ranking system. In Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, ranks are indicated by sleeve stripes. While these were originally planned to follow the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard model, the pattern was modified to avoid an overly flashy or militaristic look by removing one stripe from each Starfleet rank. Thus: a Commodore, when seen, wears a wide gold braid with a gold stripe above and below; a captain’s insignia resembles that of a naval lieutenant commander (two and a half stripes); a commander’s resembles a naval lieutenant (two stripes); a lieutenant commander's resembles a naval lieutennant junior grade (LtJG) (one and a half stripes); a lieutenant's resembles a naval ensign (one stripe), and an ensign wears no sleeve stripes. The LtJG rank was not used in TOS (though there have been references to "sub-lieutenants" in subsequent works). Also, there was no distinction made between ensigns and non-commissioned officers or enlisted crew members in TOS; everyone below the rank of lieutenant was presumed to be an ensign. (This was later determined to be unrealistic when the movies were made and thus was reversed.) In later movies based on The Original Series, ranks are indicated by pins on a shoulder strap and the left sleeve. These are unique symbols for each rank like those worn universally by officers in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. In most franchise television series, ranks are indicated by varying numbers of gold or black dots (“pips”) or bars worn on the uniform collar. These more closely follow the naval officer pattern, with gold pips equating to a whole stripe and black pips equating to a half stripe. Service insignia Six duty insignia were defined for TOS: Starship duty Theiss designed a shield-shaped badge in 1964 which he called the "arrowhead", with input from Roddenberry. This came to be known as the Star Trek delta insignia, and has since become iconic of the Starship Enterprise and the entire Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry's intent was that personnel of all starfleet starships would wear this, but in production of the first season episode "The