The Captain plaque has three red squares over three blue squares and the Admiral plaque has six red squares above six blue squares. The highest-ranking Imperial officer is Grand Moff, followed by Grand Admiral, Admiral and then Captain. Officer uniform shirts are normally adorned only with metal plaques on the upper left chest (in addition to code cylinders in small pockets, also signifying rank), with one or two rows of colored squares representing ranks. Related: Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Popular Empire Villainsīut while the branches of the military are easy to determine with the colors of the uniform, the plaques on their chests are the real signifiers of rank. Interestingly, according to Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need To Know, Revised and Expanded, Grand Moff Tarkin himself designed the uniforms, aiming for function over fanciness, never including medals. Uniform colors indicate the service branch: gray for Navy and Army, white for intelligence and black for stormtrooper officers (and other non-commissioned officers). Vader is second only to the Emperor, and he and Grand Moff Tarkin (who oversees the Death Star) collaborate to threaten and interrogate Princess Leia following her capture.īut aside from Tarkin, how do viewers know how officers fit within the ranks? Most of the hierarchy is expressed through action and dialogue, but another way to determine “who is who” is via uniforms. When Darth Vader steps through the smoke-filled doorway of the Tantive IV at the beginning of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, he is clearly in charge, commanding his underlings to search for stolen Death Star plans. Distinguishing Imperial officer ranks and branches has always been a challenge in the Star Wars movies.

Star wars imperial ranking system