How do you identify military insignia patches?

The United States Military insignia patches, denoting rank, are found on the upper sleeves or chest of the uniform. The lowest ranking privates start with one yellow chevron. Private First Class closes the chevron with a rounded bar. As an enlisted officer moves up, more chevrons and bars are added.

A Master Sergeant has three chevrons and three bars. The higher the Sergeant's rank, the more detail is within the green field, from diamond, to star, to wheat, and to bald eagle. Higher ranking officer insignias are different. Lieutenants have either a silver or gold bar; Captains have two silver bars; Majors have a gold leaf; Colonels have a silver eagle; and Generals have between one and five silver stars. Specialists wear a green insignia with just a gold eagle in the center.