Gorget patches Gorget patches ( collar tabs , collar patches ) are an insignia , paired patches of cloth or metal on the collar ( gorget ) of the uniform , that is used in the military and civil service in some countries . Collar tabs sign the military rank ( group of ranks ) , the rank of civil service , the military unit , the office ( department ) or the branch of the armed forces and the arm of service . Austria . In Austria collar patches of the Federal Army report the rank and the arm of service . They are also used in the police . Australia . In Australia the St John Ambulance Australia First Aid Services Branch gorget patches designate State Staff Officers and National Staff Officers from those who are officers of a division or region . Canada . With the restoration of historical nomenclature to the Canadian Army , reinstated insignia will include traditional gorget patches for colonels and general officers . France . In the French Army collar patches were used since 1877 and signed a military unit . Germany . In German Empire , generals , some officers , guardsmen and seamen wore collar patches , but these were not part of the service - wide uniform . In the Weimar Republic such patches ( or " Litzen " ) were introduced throughout the army in 1921 , where they indicated the rank and the arm of service , but were not used in the navy . Some Nazi - era civil services ( e . g . , police and railways ) wore uniforms with collar tabs , similar to the armed forces ' tabs . New tabs were also introduced for the political leaders of the NSDAP , for the new Nazi organisations ( as Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel ) . The GDR used similar collar tabs to those of the Wehrmacht for its army and air force . Collar tabs were also worn by some personnel of the navy . The armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany also maintained the use of collar tabs in the army and the air force , where they indicate to which branch ( or " Truppengattung " ) an individual soldier belongs . Members of the German Navy do not wear collar tabs . India . In the Indian Air Force gorget patches sign military rank . Italy . Since the late nineteenth century the Italian Army has made extensive use of coloured collar patches to distinguish branches of service and individual regiments . Nepal . In Nepal gorget patches of the Nepalese Army , Nepal Police and Armed Police Force Nepal sign the rank of general officer s and senior officers . Russia . In the Russian Empire collar patches sign rank according to the Table of ranks . In the USSR in 1924 - 1943 served as the primary insignia of military ranks . When the shoulder strap s were restored in 1943 , collar tabs remained as an insignia of the branch and the arm of service . Since 1932 they were also used as an insignia in some civil services . The state of affairs is the same in the modern Russian Federation . Sri Lanka . In the Sri Lanka Air Force gorget patches sign military rank . Switzerland . In the Swiss army collar patches denote the rank and the arm of service . United Kingdom . In the United Kingdom gorget patches are worn by British Army general officer s or senior officers according to branch or arm of service ; their counterpart police ranks wear similar gorget patches of silver - on - black . Officer cadet s in the Merchant Navy , Army and the Royal Air Force also wear patches . The patches were introduced by British Army officers in India in 1887 and there was then a proliferation of them . Different colours were introduced to indicate the branch of service and by 1940 there was : bright blue ( engineers ) , dark blue ( ordnance ) , pale blue ( education ) , scarlet ( general staff duties ) , cherry ( medical ) , maroon ( veterinary ) , purple ( chaplain ) , green ( dental ) and yellow ( accountant ) . Army staff officers at ranks lower than Colonel wore gorget patches until 1921 when they were restricted to full colonels and above .