Rank insignia of the Galactic Empire / old version Rank insignia of the Galactic Empire refers to badges of military rank which were used by officers of the Imperial Military . All officers in the Service wore one or another of these insignia . Officer ranks . In 0 BBY , Imperial officers of the Galactic Empire wore insignia consisting of a confusing collection of multi - colored rank squares on the left breast of the officer ' s uniform with a combination of several metal cylinders to either side of the rank badge . By the next few years , the rank squares had become a much simpler collection of red and blue squares with the code cylinders still in use . In the Galactic Civil War , most Imperial officers were verbally addressed as " Commander " with the exception of Admiral s , such as Admiral Kendal Ozzel and Piett who were addressed as " Admiral " . It should be noted that " commander " is an acceptable form of address for captains , majors , colonels , or anyone of any rank who commands a military unit . Grand Moff Tarkin was referred to as " Governor " . With such generic terms , the Star Wars films give little hint to a system of ranks and insignia . Over the years , however , the Expanded Universe has established a system of ranks and insignia which matches closely to the characters and the ranks and authority which they most likely held . Enlisted ranks . Imperial enlisted personnel have never been shown to have any type of insignia , but do have various types of uniforms which could indicate seniority among the enlisted rank structure . The uniforms appear to range from Soldiers and Technicians , to Sergeants and Naval NCOs , as well as Warrant Officers and Command Sergeants . Each of these groups is shown in the feature films to have various types of uniforms but never have been shown wearing any type of identifying insignia . Stormtroopers . Stormtrooper s apparently use the same rank system as the Imperial Army , but rarely wear any type of outward insignia . It is mentioned that Stormtroopers most likely have an identification scanner , built into their helmets , which can determine the rank and seniority of other stormtroopers . This does not explain , however , the colored shoulder pads used by Stormtroopers on Tatooine . Also , in the Battle of Hoth , a stormtrooper is seen wearing the insignia of an Army Captain on his armor . It is assumed that such insignia display is for the benefit of non - stormtrooper personnel . In the higher ranks of the Stormtroopers , it can be reasonably assumed that the senior Stormtrooper officers do not wear the Battle Armor on a regular basis , thus a different uniform , for the more casual " office " setting , would most likely be worn . This explains a number of Imperial officers , seen in the feature films directing groups of Stormtroopers , who appear to be wearing solid black uniforms with rank badges . Such personnel are most likely Stormtrooper commanders whose daily duties do not necessitate the regular wearing of battle armor . Starfighter Corps . The Imperial pilots of the Starfighter Corps are a subject of great debate . One school of thought is that such personnel are members of the Imperial Navy while another possibility exists that the starfighters comprise an entire separate branch of service . Several different literature sources have provided a feasible rank structure for the Starfighter Corps , with indications that Starfighter pilots are Imperial officers with ranks similar to the Army and Navy combined . No starfighter pilot has ever been seen wearing rank insignia but this may have been since the pilots were only seen in flight suits . It is plausible that a separate duty uniform exists , upon which rank insignia may be displayed . A conjectural rank system for the Imperial Starfighter Corps is as follows " Corresponding Imperial Navy rank listed as comparison " Imperial Security Bureau . Members of the Imperial Security Bureau , or the " ISB " , have only been seen for a brief period of time , aboard the Death Star . A white uniformed ISB Colonel , Wullf Yularen , was in the Death Star conference room along with two ISB NCOs walking past the Death Star main elevator area . In both cases , the ISB personnel were shown to be wearing white uniforms with rank insignia corresponding to Imperial Army and Navy personnel . It is possible that the ISB uses the same insignia , with different rank titles , or that the ISB ranks are identical to those of the Imperial Army . Behind the scenes . Alternate versions . The insignia scheme devised in " " created an interesting ambiguity in that a review of the film shows some Imperial characters who have apparently the same rank and position , yet display different versions of insignia . This problem recurs in the Star Wars Expanded Universe in that Imperial officers of the same rank wear different badges of office . The possibility exists that such officers serve in different branches of the service or that the difference in insignia is a means to display seniority or some other badge of distinction . This has never been determined exactly , however , leaving the viewing audience to speculate . The chart displayed to the right indicates alternate versions of Imperial insignia , when applying to the Version One method seen in " A New Hope " . Additional info . In the film " " , a wardrobe problem undiscovered until midway through production resulted in all Imperial characters wearing the same insignia , being that of an Imperial Navy Commander . Thus , the Imperial insignia in " Return of the Jedi " are often ignored . The rank of Grand Admiral was first mentioned in the Timothy Zahn novels and is considered the senior most rank of the entire Imperial Service . Grand Admirals , and their Imperial Army counterparts " Grand Generals " are authorized to wear white uniforms with gold shoulder boards , in addition to the standard badge of rank . " The Empire Strikes Back " demonstrated that the Imperial Navy and Army , while using the same rank badges , differentiate between the two services by the spacing of the colored squares on the badge itself . Imperial Army officers use rank badges with thin rank squares on a grey metal frame , while Navy officers display flush rank squares with no spacing in - between . This method of separating the two services apparently did not apply to the rank insignia of " A New Hope " , since all Imperial personnel , both Army and Navy , appeared to wear the same style of rank badge . The LucasArts Flight Simulator game " " provides a much simpler version of Starfighter Ranks as listed below . Given that the flight simulator ranks appear overly simplified and combine Navy and Army titles indiscriminately , most Star Wars sources consider the " TIE Fighter " ranks to be contradictory and this rank system is generally ignored . Insignia sources . The information displayed in this article indicates one possible sequence of insignia order based on several different Star Wars literature sources , conjectural information , and information seen in the feature films and other live entertainment productions . Neither George Lucas or LucasArts has ever published an established insignia guide for either the Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance . In the case of the Empire , however , " A New Hope " seemed to establish a basic system that the more squares and code cylinders a character wore , the more important of a position they held . This idea carried over into " The Empire Strikes Back " , however in that film the higher ranking characters wore more rank squares but fewer code cylinders . With the information provided in the feature films somewhat limited , the Expanded Universe has been left with the task of creating a rank and insignia system which holds to the information of the feature films and the additional information put forth in Star Wars literature and other film and televison productions . The following sources , therefore , were used in preparing this article .