what does this symbol mean?

Air Force ranks

US Air Force rank insignia, enlisted and officer, in order, with the pay grade each one shows.

US Air Force ranks run from airman basic (E-1) to general (O-10). The Air Force’s Enlisted Force Structure puts enlisted airmen in three tiers: junior enlisted from E-1 to E-4, non-commissioned officers at E-5 and E-6, and senior NCOs from E-7 to E-9. In the Air Force a staff sergeant is an E-5; in the Army and Marine Corps staff sergeant is E-6.

Enlisted 10 symbols

Officers 11 symbols

Airman basic wears no stripes

The Air Force’s dress regulation, DAFI 36-2903, requires no rank insignia for airmen basic. An airman (E-2) has one stripe and an airman first class two, the counts the Air Force set in 1967.

Reading the stripes

Every Air Force chevron has a circle with a star in the middle and stripes swept upward from it, the design a majority of 150 airmen chose in a 1948 poll, as the historian Walter Boyne tells it. Below the star the stripes build to five for a technical sergeant (E-6). Senior NCOs add stripes above the star: one for master sergeant, two for senior master sergeant, three for chief master sergeant, a layout that became mandatory in October 1997. A diamond in the centre marks a first sergeant, a duty the Air Force lists among its developmental duties. The chief master sergeant of the Air Force has a wreath around the star and, since 2004, the Great Seal and two stars above.

Officers

Air Force officers wear the same insignia as Army and Marine officers. On the OCP uniform the insignia is spice brown, except first lieutenant and lieutenant colonel, which are black. The service cap shows the tier too: a plain visor for company grade officers, and two or three clouds and darts on each side of the visor for field grade and general officers.

Warrant officers and General of the Air Force

The Air Force phased out warrant officers in 1959 and reintroduced them in 2024; the first 30 graduated from Warrant Officer Training School on 6 December 2024, for fields such as cyber, intelligence and space. The Defense Department’s insignia chart still says there are no warrant officers in the Air Force. General of the Air Force, the five-star rank, is marked reserved for wartime only. Henry H. Arnold, appointed by Congress in 1949, is the only officer to have held it.

Sources

  1. The Enlisted Force Structure, The Enlisted Force Structure, 4 September 2025, Department of the Air Force, published by Air University, Enlisted tiers; developmental duties
  2. U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Enlisted, warrant officer and officer tables
  3. DAFI 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force and Space Force Personnel, DAFI 36-2903, 29 February 2024, with guidance changes, Department of the Air Force, OCP rank insignia
  4. A Chronology of the Enlisted Rank Chevron of the United States Air Force, TSgt Barry L. Spink, Air Force Historical Research Agency, 19 February 1992, Department of the Air Force Historical Support Division, 1948, 1967 and 1991 entries
  5. A Study in Stripes, Walter J. Boyne, Air Force Magazine, 1 March 2008, Air & Space Forces Magazine (Air & Space Forces Association), 1948 design
  6. Stripes: A brief history of Air Force enlisted ranks, Randy Saunders, 50th Space Wing historian, 25 October 2011, U.S. Air Force (af.mil), 1991–1997 redesign
  7. Awards and Ranks: Enlisted Ranks (image gallery), af.mil, About Us, The Book: Enlisted Ranks, U.S. Air Force (af.mil), Captions
  8. New CMSAF insignia debuts Nov. 1, Tech. Sgt. David A. Jablonski, 29 October 2004, U.S. Air Force (af.mil)
  9. AFH 1, Airman, Air Force Handbook 1, Airman, 15 February 2025, Department of the Air Force, Service cap
  10. Insignia, Rank, Captain (a United States Air Force captain’s insignia), National Air and Space Museum, object A19951091000, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Physical description
  11. Insignia, Rank, Major, United States Air Force, National Air and Space Museum, object A19951084000, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Physical description
  12. DA Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, DA PAM 670-1, 26 January 2021, Headquarters, Department of the Army (Army Publishing Directorate), para 21–6
  13. Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps rank insignia table
  14. First Air Force warrant officers graduate, prepare to enter force, Staff Sgt. Emmeline James, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, 6 December 2024, U.S. Air Force (af.mil)
  15. Henry H. Arnold (official biography), Biography: General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold, U.S. Air Force (af.mil)
  16. Insignia, Rank, General of the Air Force, Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold, National Air and Space Museum, object A19610010003, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Description

Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research