Rank insignia plaque

"You are in command now, Admiral Piett."

- Darth Vader, promoting officer Piett

Rank insignia plaques, also referred to as rank pins, were badges used in the military forces of Sheev Palpatine's Galactic Empire as a means to indicate and distinguish officer ranks. They originated during the Clone Wars, when Palpatine was still Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. The plaque, which was worn on the left side of the regulation tunic over the heart, consisted of translucent, colored rectangular tiles mounted on a metal bar. Those plaques could comprise one or two rows of tiles mounted on top of another. Double-row plaques were made from two separate parts of one row each, rather than two rows of caps on a single backing piece. The different types of tiles came in blue, red, yellow, and grey. Members of media organizations such as the Imperial Press Corps wore Imperial media badges.

Galactic Republic insignia
As exemplified by Wullf Yularen, Kilian, and Coburn, a fleet admiral wore an insignia that bore three red tiles on the top bar, and two blue tiles on the bottom bar. Many clone navigation officers, some of whom held the rank of captain, wore a single-rowed plaque, with two red and one blue tiles (from left to right).

Galactic Empire insignia
A single row of blue tiles was the badge of a lieutenant. The rank of Captain, Commandant was signified by three red tiles over three blue.

Members of the Imperial Security Bureau, such as Agent Kallus, wore plaques with three blue squares next to two yellow ones.

As a Vice Admiral, Rae Sloane wore a plaque that featured five red squares over five blue ones. An Admiral's plaque was made of twelve multicolored squares, six red over six blue.

The rank pin of a Grand Moff also bore twelve squares&mdash;six blue over trios of red and gold. A Moff had ten squares; five blue over three red and two gold. The plaque of Grand Generals had twelve squares, three blue and three gold over trios of blue and red.

The badge of a junior lieutenant had two red squares sitting on top of two blue.