United States
Epaulettes were authorized for the United States Navy in the first official uniform regulations, Uniform of the Navy of the United States, 1797. Captains wore an epaulette on each shoulder, lieutenants wore only one, on the right shoulder. By 1802, lieutenants wore their epaulette on the left shoulder, with lieutenants in command of a vessel wearing them on the right shoulder; after the creation of the rank of master commandants, they wore their epaulettes on the right shoulder similar to lieutenants in command. By 1842, captains wore epaulettes on each shoulder with a star on the straps, master commandant were renamed commander in 1838 and wore the same epaulettes as captains except the straps were plain, and lieutenants wore a single epaulette similar to those of the commander, on the left shoulder. After 1852, captains, commanders, lieutenants, pursers, surgeons, passed assistant and assistant surgeons, masters in the line of promotion and chief engineers wore epaulettes.
Epaulettes were specified for all United States Army officers in 1832; infantry officers wore silver epaulettes, while those of the artillery and other branches wore gold epaulettes, following the French manner. The rank insignia was of a contrasting metal, silver on gold and vice-versa.
In 1851 the epaulettes became universally gold. Both majors and second lieutenants had no specific insignia. A major would have been recognizable as he would have worn the more elaborate epaulette fringes of a senior field officer. The rank insignia was silver for senior officers and gold for the bars of captains and first lieutenants. The reason for the choice of silver eagles over gold ones is thought to be one of economy; there were more cavalry and artillery colonels than infantry so it was cheaper to replace the numerically fewer gold ones.
Shoulder straps were adopted to replace epaulettes for field duty in 1836.
Licensed officers of the U.S. Merchant Marine may wear shoulder marks and sleeve stripes appropriate to their rank and branch of service. Deck officers wear a foul anchor above the stripes on their epaulettes and engineering officers wear a three-bladed propeller. In the U.S. Merchant Marine the correct wear of epaulettes depicting the fouled anchor is with the un-fouled stock of the anchor forward on the wearer.
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