In addition to insignia representing specific ranks, services have different items of insignia (and other uniform items) that are distinctive to different classes of ranks.

It is important to recognise that ranks of different services are divided between classes differently and that rank class definitions depend on the type of ranks, not the type of service. For example, if an air force has army officer ranks, army officer rank class definitions are to be applied. Entitlement to items of insignia and other uniform items that are distinctive to different classes of ranks must be determined by a person's rank, not by an equivalent rank.

It is also important to recognise that an individual rank may come under several different rank class definitions.

Army/marines officer rank classes:

Note: Brigadier and Brigadier-General do not exist in the same service at the same time (they are equivalent).

Naval officer rank classes:

Note: where naval ranks are concerned, senior officer status extends one rank lower than it does with army/marines and air force ranks.

Air force officer rank classes:

Note: an Air Commodore-equivalent marshal rank is possible but unprecedented in the context of RAF-style officer ranks.

Leaves on the peaks of caps are perhaps the most obvious example of rank class insignia.

Only members of the senior officer rank class are entitled to leaves on their cap peaks. Field marshals, general officers, flag officers and air-rank officers have gold oak leaves along both edges of the cap peak. Other senior officers are entitled to gold oak leaves along the outer edge only.

Peak ornamentation on dress caps is always to be worn on black peaks. Traditionally the leaves' appearance differs slightly between navies and other services.

Colonel, Brigadier	General ranks, Field Marshal
Group Captain	Air ranks
Commander, Captain, Commodore	Flag ranks

Instead of gold leaves, navy tricornes (which are worn instead of caps by women in a number of navies) and similar peakless hats have plain gold piping along the upper edge of the hat band. One row of piping is equivalent to leaves only along the outer edge of a cap peak. Two rows of piping are equivalent to leaves along both edges of a cap peak.

Commander, Captain, Commodore

Flag ranks

Henceforth on this page:
    - references to leaves only along the outer edge of a cap peak are to be construed, where appropriate, as referring to a single row of hat band piping also; and
    - references to leaves along both edges of a cap peak are to be construed, where appropriate, as referring to two rows of hat band piping also.

Lieutenant-colonels and majors (i.e. field officers who aren't senior officers) are entitled to a gold stripe along the outer edge of the peak of the blue or white (or equivalent) ceremonial dress cap. (In some organisations, lower ranks get a peak stripe as well, but this is exceptional.) The stripe is not worn on the olive/khaki/brown/lovat service dress cap.

Some services have extended the wearing of leaves to ranks that are lower than those normally entitled to leaves.

Commander is entitled to leaves because it is, according to naval officer rank class definitions, a senior officer rank. Naval rank class definitions are inapplicable to Commander's equivalents – Lieutenant-Colonel and Wing Commander – which are not senior officer ranks.

Some services have extended senior officers' peak ornamentation to both Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, for which there is some historical precedent. For a while around a century ago, army officers of these ranks were entitled to a single row of oak leaves whilst holding staff appointments. Most distinctions of rank in the Royal Marines are (rightly) identical to those of the British Army, the notable exceptions being the gratuitous complexity of minor differences between cap badges, and leaves for lieutenant-colonels and majors on cap peaks.

However, it's doubtful that any of this explains why, in the 21st century, a service would suddenly extend it to all lieutenant-colonels and majors. The explanation most likely to be correct is that it is a result of simply conflating the senior officer class and the field officer class (Lieutenant-Colonel and Major being of the latter but not the former). But why anyone would consider the peak stripe to be inadequate for Lieutenant-Colonel and (especially) Major is a complete mystery. (Also, placing more emphasis on the company officer/field officer difference is odd as it's a fairly insignificant difference in practice; Major is more similar to Captain than to Lieutenant-Colonel. The senior officer/junior officer distinction is much more significant, hence the tradition of much greater difference in insignia entitlements between Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel.)

That said, merely replacing the junior field officer's stripe with a senior field officer's leaves (if that's as far as the change goes) is just a case of redefining a single senior officer entitlement a field officer entitlement. A grandiose change, but one that still recognises where the boundaries between army/marines officer rank classes are.

The same cannot be said in relation to Lieutenant-Commander and Squadron Leader. The field officer rank class definition is inapplicable to these ranks. Lieutenant-commander contains the word 'commander' but is a lieutenant rank, not a variant of Commander. Francophone Canadians may argue that the French term for Lieutenant-Commander is a captain rank, but Lieutenant-Colonel's being a colonel rank doesn't mean it's entitled to the same rank class distinctions of 'full' Colonel either. (There is also the question of whether the French – the language – ranks should be French – the nationality – in the first place.) There appears to be no basis for demanding that these ranks be given senior officer peak ornamentation other than the fact that majors of a different service were given it.

If unifying peak ornamentation entitlements between the services actually mattered, the sensible thing would be to remove leaves from Commander rather than giving them to more ranks.

A matter of much less importance is that some services have altered the appearance of the leaves considerably. It seems that in some cases this was due to a parochial desire for the leaves to be of a species native to the relevant country. However, the purpose of leaves on cap peaks has absolutely nothing to do with nationality. Oak leaves have a very long history of representing military achievement all over the world. It's unlikely that such a change could be misleading by itself (though some uniformed services do use different types of leaves for different ranks of the same service). But it is completely unnecessary and in some cases it does tend towards the impression that the wearer was dragged head-first through a hedge.

In 2013, in response to the entirely reasonable complaint that the gold lace on senior female officers' hat bands was not conspicuous enough, the Royal Navy not only enlarged the gold lace on the band, but also added a row of lace around the entire underside of the brim (near, but not adjacent to, the edge). The lace on the brim does not differ between the senior non-flag officer and flag officer rank classes.

Widening the lace on the band was the obvious response to the complaint. Putting lace on the brim instead of the band is an obvious alternative (which is not without significant historical precedent). The combination of one or two on the band and one on the brim, however, is an awkward, illogical belt-and-braces arrangement.

A better arrangement would be either:
    - one or two row(s) of lace on the brim (separated by a 1/8"-wide space for flag officers) and none on the band; or
    - one or two row(s) of lace (1/4", instead of the previous 1/8", wide) on the band (separated by a 1/8"-wide space for flag officers) and none on the brim.

Also, the latter might be positioned so that there is a 1/8" margin at the top of the hat band, as the gold will stand out more against the black band than the white top.

The most obvious error regarding leaves on cap peaks and piping on tricornes is the granting of general/flag ranks' entitlements to Brigadier and/or Commodore. See page 5 for more on the matter of the distinctions between different ranks at this level.

As mentioned, company officers in some army organisations have a peak stripe even though other company officers of the same service do not. And not a narrower stripe, which would at least be logical where officer and non-officer cap badges are identical. British Guards regiments are even more excessive in that it is noticeably wider than normal and even non-officers have various kinds of gold stripe(s) along the edge. Ideally, Lieutenant-Colonel and Major would be the only ranks entitled to a stripe, and it would be of the standard style and width.

Traditionally army/marines service dress caps' straps are normally brown, black is traditional in every other case, and there is no variation by rank. Some services have introduced gold straps for officers' caps, a gaudy adornment that is obviously redundant for caps that already have badges, coloured cap bands (army/marines service dress caps) and/or peak ornamentation that indicate officer status. In Pakistan's navy and Kenya's army, for example, it's worn only by senior officers whose officer status is indicated by both a cap badge and gold leaves on the peak, both of which are adjacent to the strap.

The only cases where a gold strap would not be redundant in distinguishing rank classes are where junior army/marines officers have the same badge as non-officers and no peak ornamentation (or other distinguishing feature):

Non-officers and officers who do not have peak ornamentation	Officers who have the peak stripe
Non-officers and officers up to and including Lieutenant-Colonel

Distinguishing an army/marines junior officer's cap from that of a non-officer is insignificant and service dress uniforms are supposed to be fairly plain. If an army or marine corps were desperate to have different caps for junior officers and non-officers, there are better ways of doing it. For example, officers could have a fancier cap badge, as is already the case in a number of corps/regiments.

A gorget patch comprises a piece of cloth with two parallel long sides, a triangular point at one end, a button at the pointed end and ornamentation between the button and the opposite end which differs by rank class. Gorget patches are worn in pairs, one on each end of a garment's collar.

Gorget patches for commissioned officers of the armed forces are applicable only to 'full' colonels, brigadiers, general officers and field marshals. Gorget patches are helpful in identifying someone as a senior officer as army-style shoulder rank devices are less conspicuous than insignia of equivalent naval and air force ranks. (Patches for lower-ranking staff officers were sensibly abolished in 1921. Lieutenant-colonels and below wear regimental, corps or army collar badges.)

There may be up to three sizes:
    - long patches are for coats with standing collars;
    - medium patches are for coats with open, folded-back collars; and
    - short patches are for short-sleeve shirts and certain jackets.

The standard long or medium patch for a colonel or brigadier is red and has a length of braid that is slightly darker than the patch. The standard short patch for a colonel or brigadier is red and has a narrow length of plain braid that is slightly darker than the patch.

The standard long or medium patch for a general officer or field marshal is red and has a row of gold oak leaves and acorns. There are four acorns on a long patch and three on a medium patch. The standard short patch for a general officer or field marshal is red and has a narrow length of gold braid.

Non-standard patches vary by colour, the different colours representing chaplains and healthcare corps/branches.

Note that gorget patch entitlements coincide with cap peak ornamentation and various other entitlements:

Colonel, Brigadier

General ranks, Field Marshal

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