Starfleet Uniform & Rank Issues
Systematic or Recurring IssuesIndividual or Accidental Issues
Starfleet's rank structure and uniform patterns are well-defined, until they aren't. This article takes care of all kinds of problems that remain once we accept the frequency of new styles. There are issues with shirt colors that are uncertain, rank insignias that don't match with dialogue, seemingly erratic demotions or promotions - or bloopers like the infamous missing rank pips of the TNG era.
Systematic or Recurring Issues
Inconsistent promotions
We may expect that, just as in the real-life military, a Starfleet officer receives a promotion every few years, depending on his or her conduct and performance. Most permanent crew members in the various Star Trek series have moved up the ranks through the years, but some have not. We may want to consider individual decisions and circumstances.
As Picard says to Kirk in "Generations", accepting a promotion to admiral would probably mean that he loses his command over a starship. This is also the reason why he declines the offer to become the head of Starfleet Academy (with the rank of admiral) in TNG: "Conspiracy", and why Kirk is not too sad when he is demoted at the end of "Star Trek IV". Riker remains a commander during all his time under Capt. Picard, 15 years altogether until "Star Trek Nemesis". He declines a command of his own four times. It is possible that there can be only one person with the rank of captain on a starship (the notable exception being the Enterprise-A with Captains Kirk, Spock and Scott).
Ensign Harry Kim, on the other hand, is a crew member who is never promoted in his whole seven years on Voyager, although no good reason becomes obvious. He finally complains about that in VOY: "Nightingale", blaming the exceptional circumstances in the Delta Quadrant for the stagnation, whereas he might be lieutenant, even lieutenant commander by now in the Alpha Quadrant. The rationale may seem plausible, as the command structure might need lower officer ranks. Still, why is Tom promoted to lieutenant (jr. grade) again in VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", after he had been demoted to ensign in VOY: "Thirty Days"? Clearly Harry Kim's record has been better in the meantime.
Other crew members who are apparently let down include Lt. Commander Data. Like Riker, he has been holding this rank for 15 years, although in his case there is no apparent reason why he shouldn't move up to the rank of commander, just like Deanna Troi in TNG: "Thine Own Self" (the episode even has an ironic remark that Deanna now outranks Data). Curiously, Deanna's promotion goes along with an exam to acquire command ability, but Data has been in command before her, without holding the rank of commander.
In "Star Trek (2009)" Cadet Kirk is promoted by Captain Pike to the Enterprise's first officer. Some time later Spock, acting captain at that time, puts him in command. At the end of the movie Kirk, who should nominally still be a cadet, receives his promotion to captain, skipping no less than five ranks! This is very odd and unprecedented in the history of Star Trek. It has been argued that Pike or Spock may have given Kirk a field promotion, one that Starfleet wouldn't revert after Kirk has saved the planet. But Kirk did not act single-handedly, he received crucial support from Spock and his other crew members. If anyone, then Commander Spock should have been promoted to captain. Also, no one else in Starfleet that we know of has ever been promoted because of a single merit. Ironically, the Prime Universe Kirk is demoted to captain after saving Earth in "Star Trek IV"! And even more ironically, when new Kirk commits a minor offense by cheating the Kobayashi Maru scenario, he is going to be disciplined, while after numerous more serious offenses he is promoted! So whatever we make of Kirk's incredibly premature promotion, it leaves a bad taste of Starfleet valuing isolated accomplishments or even "predestination" higher than constancy. Although it is not unprecedented in military history for outsiders to take leading positions, a military organization should not work like this.
The color of the TOS command uniform shirt
The color of the uniform shirt that Kirk, Sulu and Chekov wear most of the time on The Original Series is commonly described as "mustard", "gold" or simply "yellow". It looks yellow in all lighting situations of the series.
At least, yellow or gold is what the color usually appears to be on screen in TOS episodes, in the original TV version as well as in the remastered release. This, however, is not the whole truth. William Ware Theiss, who was responsible for the costumes of TOS, had in mind that the three departments of the ship should be represented by the three primary colors in additive color mixing as used for color TV: blue for science and medical, red for engineering and security, green for command. In fact, Kirk has a variant of the uniform, the so-called wrap-around shirt that was made of a different fabric and always appears green in the episodes in both the season 1 and the season 2 version. His shiny dress uniform is clearly green as well. Kirk's standard shirt, on the other hand, was made of an avocado green fabric that only appears yellow, owing to the conditions of the film material, the lighting and the processing of the film.
More precisely, an article at startrek.com lists five factors that create our impression of a yellowish shirt, instead of a green one. The first is the Eastman Kodak 35mm film used at the time, which was meant to produce "warmer" colors and which would shift greenish colors to red, making light green appear as plain yellow (and yellow as pink, as it used to happen with Spock's skin color). The second reason is the lighting with tungsten, whose color temperature is lower and hence makes the colors appear more red as well. The three other reasons for color variations are color timing, optical effects and the transfer to tape or digitizing, all of which are not free of imperfections.
In TOS-R, the colors are generally somewhat different than in the original episodes, and presumably closer to what they might have looked to the naked eye. In particular, the color of Kirk's shirt sometimes reveals its actual greenish hue, albeit usually not as clearly as in TOS-R: "The Changeling".
Note that the color of the command shirts is referred to as "yellow" or "gold" in the rest of this article and everywhere else on EAS. It doesn't mean that I deny or ignore the true color but that what we can clearly see in 78 canon episodes takes precedence over observations behind the scenes.
Uncertain ranks and departments in TOS
The Enterprise crew in The Original Series famously wear uniforms in three department colors (yellow/gold for command, blue for science/medical and red for engineering/security), all with according delta patches on the shirts. But these colors needed some time to become firmly established. Lieutenant Uhura can be seen with an odd uniform combo at the beginning of TOS. She wears a yellow command uniform, but with a science patch, as is clearly visible at least in "The Corbomite Maneuver". She first appears (in production order) with her familiar red uniform in TOS: "The Man Trap".
We can also see security personnel with blue or yellow shirts a few times in the first season. Three of them are killed in TOS: "The Man Trap", seemingly throwing off the famous death count among the redshirts, which gets "corrected" in season 2, when security officers more or less consistently wear red.
Marla McGivers is consistently referred to as a lieutenant in TOS: "Space Seed". Yet, her uniform does not have a rank braid. Also, as a historian, shouldn't she wear a blue uniform, rather than a red one with an engineering patch? The same applies to the red engineering uniform of Lt. Cmdr. Mulhall in "Return to Tomorrow".
Not only the colors, also the rank insignias remained uncertain for a quite while. Spock is repeatedly referred to as lieutenant commander in the first season of TOS, specifically in "Court Martial", "The Menagerie I" and "Tomorrow is Yesterday". Yet, he consistently wears the two braids of a full commander in all regular episodes.
In TOS: "Court Martial", Finney is presumed dead but actually has been hiding on the Enterprise. He wears a uniform with the two full braids of a commander, although his rank is consistently referred to as lieutenant commander, many times in the episode. Once again, this is the beginning of TOS, and much was still uncertain. In the very same episode Spock (two full braids) and McCoy (one full, one broken braid) are both referred to as lieutenant commanders as well. Finally, in TOS: "The Devil in the Dark", Giotto is referred to as a lieutenant commander, but seen with the sleeve insignia (two stripes) of a full commander.
Fleet admirals - Picard's peculiar promotion practice
Some major real-life navies know the rank of fleet admiral (five-star admiral), often reserved for the commander-in-chief of the fleet or the inner circle of fleet command. Starfleet likewise uses this highest flag officer rank. Notable examples are Cartwright and the commander-in-chief ("Bill") from "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", Kirsten Clancy from PIC season 1 or Charles Vance in the 32nd century. These all wear an equivalent of a five-star insignia that allows to identify them visually as fleet admirals.
It is a reasonable assumption that the rank should have existed in the mid-24th century as well. Yet, while TNG, DS9 and Voyager show us a variety of three-star (three boxed pips) or four-star (four boxed pips) admirals, no one ever seems to wear a five-pip insignia. What we do have is a number of verbal references to fleet admirals, usually by Captain Picard.
Admiral Shanthi appears in TNG: "Redemption II". Captain Picard calls her "Fleet Admiral Shanthi", although she has three boxed pips and is therefore a vice admiral, two ranks lower. This probably happened because either the writers were not aware that "Fleet Admiral" is an actual rank and not suited as a short form of "Starfleet Admiral", or because the prop department didn't have an according rank insignia. Likewise, Captain Picard refers to Admiral Brackett as "Fleet Admiral Brackett" in his log entry at the beginning of TNG: "Unification I" (right after the commemoration "Gene Roddenberry 1921-1991"). However, she too only wears the rank insignia of a vice admiral (three boxed pips). "Fleet Admiral" is in the episode script, so once again either the writers or the costume department got it wrong.
It is not a surprise that our good captain also refers to his most notable superior, Admiral Nechayev, as "Fleet Admiral". He does that in his log entry at the beginning of TNG: "Journey's End". Yet, she can be seen with the three boxed pips of a vice admiral, still as in "Chain of Command I" (where she put on the correct rank pips but forgot her communicator). He really loves to promote his female superiors to the top rank, doesn't he? ;-)
O'Brien and other non-commissioned officers
The rank insignias of officers at the time of early TNG are well-defined: one solid pip for the ensign, one solid and one hollow for the lieutenant junior grade, two solid for the full lieutenant, two solid and one hollow for the lieutenant commander, and so on. The supposedly existing lower ranks on the Enterprise have no insignias, a visual identification is impossible. Most importantly, there is no distinction between enlisted crewmen and non-commissioned officers (NCO). The obvious interpretation: there exist no non-commissioned officers at the time of TNG, just officers (who have graduated at Starfleet Academy) and crewmen (without graduation). Although this seems logical, it would be unfair to the crewmen, who could never rise in their rank. There would be no chance, with less of an effort than at Starfleet Academy, to receive a promotion to a non-commissioned officer rank, possibly as a field promotion. Becoming a "crewman first class" after years in service without any visible distinction seems anything but desirable.
Miles Edward O'Brien wears the solid pip of an ensign in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint" and still in the (correctly in his case) recreated past of TNG: "All Good Things". From season 2 to 5 of TNG, his rank sign is the two solid pips of a lieutenant, and he is accordingly addressed by Riker in "Where Silence Has Lease".
Since TNG: "Family", however, we know that there are apparently non-commissioned officers and that O'Brien is supposed to be one of them. Sergey Rozhenko introduces himself as an engineer and chief petty officer (CPO). Oddly, he identifies Miles O'Brien as another CPO - but O'Brien is unmistakably wears the lieutenant rank insignia at that time (two solid pips). It is possible that the writer of the episode thought that "(Transporter) Chief", as O'Brien was commonly referred to, was a rank rather than a function. Anyway, one theory is that there is an unknown number of non-commissioned officers aboard any starship, wearing the rank insignias of the equivalent officer whose position they occupy. Although an ensign has a higher nominal rank than any NCO, it is possible for NCO ranks to perform the duty of an officer also in many real-world military organizations - either because of their experience or because of a lack of officers. And perhaps, since no visual distinction is possible anyway, these NCOs would be referred to as if they were officers. Of course, that still wouldn't explain why Rozhenko could see that O'Brien is a CPO - maybe Miles just looks like that?
Anyway, O'Brien's rank is clearly meant to be retconned by the viewer. He has never been demoted. He has never been an officer. He explicitly says "And don't call me 'sir'. I'm not an officer." to Muniz in DS9: "The Ship". Since his last appearances on TNG O'Brien consistently wears rank insignias different from the officers, definitely denoting him as something less than an ensign. At first, it was an empty pip, which would comply with the TNG rank system rather as a cadet than as an NCO. Nonetheless it is quite fitting, considering that the empty pip is identified as "Chief Warrant Officer" in the Star Trek Encyclopedia. Warrant officers are an intermediate group of ranks between an NCO and an officer but with an officer's duties in the US Navy, just like I speculated earlier. Also, it would confirm that O'Brien had received a promotion (rather than a demotion) prior to changing to DS9, which is mentioned in DS9: "Past Prologue", because a chief warrant officer is a higher rank than a chief petty officer.
O'Brien first wears the hollow pip on the Enterprise in TNG: "Realm of Fear", and he remains on board with this rank sign until TNG: "Rascals" (sixth season). The empty pip as an insignia must have been introduced earlier. It appears as early as in the second TNG season in "The Child" (Gladstone), then in TNG: "Reunion" (Maggie Hubble), TNG: "Night Terrors" (Gillespie), TNG: "The Next Phase" (Brossmer) and TNG: "The Quality of Life" (Kelso). Brossmer is called "Chief" by Data. (It is actually her who saves the ship when she interrupts Picard's "engage" command that would have destroyed the ship.)
Later on in DS9, O'Brien's rank sign is modified to a combination of three chevrons and two dots, much like the master chief petty officer in the US Navy (three chevrons and two stars). He curiously still wears the hollow pip to his dress uniform in "Rules of Engagement", which may indicate that his rank actually hasn't changed. The new insignia is quite clearly identified as "Chief Petty Officer" in DS9: "Hippocratic Oath". But has he been demoted? The Star Trek Encyclopedia calls this rank "Chief of Operations", which sounds rather like an occupation than a rank. In DS9: "Tribunal" O'Brien states "My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank is chief of operations, Starfleet. I am a Federation citizen.". But that was at a time when he still wore the hollow pip. The hollow pip could be an exceptional rank insignia, considering that O'Brien was always called "Chief", while he was wearing this one, and not "Chief Warrant Officer". This would mean that O'Brien hasn't been demoted, and he may have been promoted from chief petty officer to master chief petty officer since his time on the Enterprise. More evidence that he may have climbed up the ranks comes from DS9: "Shadow Play", where O'Brien states that he is a "Senior Chief Specialist", which is the NCO in the US Navy closest to an officer rank, a senior chief petty officer with the status of a specialist.
Overall, a rank identification system would not be very practical if there were only one rank insignia for the highest NCO (namely the hollow pip) or an intermediate warrant officer rank, without a distinction of other NCO ranks (there must exist more) and of enlisted crew. Yet, this seemed to be the case at the time of (early) TNG. Crewman 1st Class Tarses in TNG: "The Drumhead", for example, has nothing on his uniform that would have allowed to distinguish him from a crewman 3rd class. In this regard the revision to introduce combinations of chevrons and dots for the NCO ranks is clearly an improvement. But we can't really tell if this is so. Apparently O'Brien remains one of extremely few NCOs in Starfleet. Only Cadet Dorian Collins in DS9: "Valiant" (the girl from the moon), one more female crew member of that ship, and Burke from DS9: "Nor the Battle to the Strong" wear a similar or the same rank insignia with three chevrons. The provisional(?) rank of Cadet(?) Collins is just another oddity, considering that most of her fellow cadets were "promoted" to officer ranks. All other non-commissioned personnel are referred to only as "crewman" or at most as "crewman first class".
Another odd fact about O'Brien is that he was at Starfleet Academy indeed, where he studied engineering and underwent an extensive education and training. The same might apply to Dorian Collins who, if she was really about to become an NCO, would even be in the same class as the future officers. If it is only a few more months and a few more courses, why would anyone not want to become an officer? Especially someone as brilliant as O'Brien who was (most likely) not married at that time? Maybe his engineering studies were so extensive that he neglected the non-technical part. In spite of his undeniable merits, he is more than lucky that Starfleet would ask him to teach engineering (DS9: "What You Leave Behind"), although he has never made it to officer.
Tom's and Tuvok's ranks
Some Starfleet officers are not seen the rank insignias they are supposed to have. The most obvious examples are Tom Paris and Tuvok. Tom is field promoted to lieutenant by Janeway in VOY: "Caretaker". We can't tell if he is supposed to be lieutenant or lieutenant jr. grade, as both would be called "Lieutenant". Anyway, he wears the full lieutenant rank insignia (two solid pips) for most of the first season. Tuvok can be seen with the lieutenant commander insignia from the beginning, but the opening credits call him "Lieutenant", and he is occasionally referred to as "Lieutenant", never correctly as "Commander". Towards the end of the first season, in "Faces", Tom's pips are changed to lt. junior grade. In "Cathexis", Tuvok's is changed to lieutenant. Were they both demoted?
Although it appears to be just retconning (bearing in mind that Tuvok was supposed to be lieutenant from the beginning, as per the episode credits), his demotion seems possible. Tuvok was a driving force behind the incident in VOY: "Prime Factors", of making an illegal deal on Sikaris and putting the ship in danger. This seems like a sufficient reason to demote him, but not Tom. Also, for some reason the demotion did not take effect immediately, but a couple of episodes later. Maybe Janeway was waiting for the result of an official investigation, before taking actions. However, Tuvok's rank pips keep changing back and forth during "Cathexis", without any explanation what is going on.
Also, there is still the question why Tom was demoted, although his role in the "Prime Factors" plot was at most marginal, while B'Elanna's was not. She apparently also got demoted, as discussed further down. Another problem is that Janeway promotes Tuvok to lt. commander again in VOY: "Revulsion". She says, "Over the past nine years I've come to rely on his insightful and unfailingly logical advice...", suggesting that he was having the same rank all the time.
More evidence can be found in VOY: "Worst Case Scenario" where both holographic characters Paris and Tuvok appear with their lower ranks, although at the time Tuvok wrote the program and Seska may have been the last person to ever touch it, they still had their respective higher ranks. It appears that the fact that Tuvok and Paris ever had higher ranks is consciously disregarded and retroactively invalidated in later episodes.
Chakotay's rank
After VOY: "Caretaker" Chakotay becomes Captain Janeway's first officer. But it is uncertain whether his provisional rank, which he retains for the whole run of the series, is commander (Cmdr.) or lieutenant commander (Lt. Cmdr.). He is consistently called "Commander", but that would be the proper way to address a Lt. Cmdr. as well.
Arguments for Lt. Cmdr.:
- His Maquis insignia clearly imitates that of a Starfleet Lt. Cmdr., with its two solid and one black stripe. It is the only one of its kind we ever see, and there is no canon reference to what it means, just common sense. Bearing in mind that Tuvok's and Tom's rank pips were fixed to reflect their intended ranks as mentioned earlier but Chakotay's remained the same, it seems he was always meant to be a Lt. Cmdr.
- The former XO he replaced, Cavit, was a Lt. Cmdr. This doesn't have to mean a lot though, considering that the provisional promotion was a "political" decision and Janeway may have taken into account Chakotay's previous merits (perhaps he really was a Starfleet commander?), rather than those of his predecessor.
Arguments for Cmdr.:
- Chakotay is never referred to as Lt. Cmdr. on screen, not once in seven years. Even though it is correct to address a Lt. Cmdr. as "Commander", he ought to be called "Lieutenant Commander Chakotay" whenever someone is talking about him to a third person. Data, for instance, was frequently referred to as a "lieutenant commander".
- In VOY: "In the Flesh", fake Boothby states Chakotay's serial number and rank as plain Cmdr. Granted, that was a simulation, but Species 8472 must have got its intelligence from Voyager.
- He is called "Commander Chakotay" in the title credits and in all scripts.
Summarizing, although the visual evidence of his Maquis insignia looking like those of a Lt. Cmdr. is compelling because it never changed, he is a consistently a Cmdr. in all written and spoken evidence. The latter appears to be stronger.
Belanna's and other provisional rank insignias
Chakotay, as already discussed, has an individual provisional rank insignia that identifies him either as a commander or a lieutenant commander. The only other one among his former crew with a clear distinction of her rank is B'Elanna Torres. B'Elanna is initially supposed to be a lieutenant junior grade, but still wears a "generic" provisional insignia with one black stripe like everyone else. She apparently gets promoted to full lieutenant at the end of "Parallax" when she becomes the ship's chief engineer, with the in-universe rationale to achieve at least rank parity with her rival Lt. Joe Carey. Her new rank insignia accordingly consists of two solid stripes. In later episodes of season 1 and until the end of the series, she apparently is a Lt. JG again for some reason as in the beginning, this time with the correct "one solid, one black" pattern. In-universe, she may have been demoted again because of her involvement in the Sikaris incident in VOY: "Prime factors", just like presumably Tuvok. In real life, the demotion may have been retroactive, in order for Tuvok to still outrank her.
Anyway, B'Elanna and Chakotay seem to be the only ones with provisional rank insignias other than "one black stripe", which is designed as the equivalent of the regular "one hollow pip" and would denote a non-commissioned rank - or, more generally, a rank below an ensign.
Yet, the rest of the ex-Maquis don't all hold the same rank. The former Maquis members on Voyager with identical rank insignias are referred to as either "crewman", "ensign" or even "lieutenant" (in the case of Ayala). A few of them, such as Hogan or Suder, are sometimes addressed as "ensign" and sometimes as "crewman", which blurs the difference also in dialog. Perhaps Ayala (unlike Harry Kim!) is promoted from ensign to lt. JG at some point.
Giving all the ex-Maquis identical rank insignias, provisional or not, that don't allow a distinction of ranks at all, defies their very purpose. Perhaps there were practical reasons not to create more varied rank insignias, although they were part of the concept created by scenic art assistant Jim Magdaleno. He intended the almost universal one with the single black line to represent the position of chief warrant officer.
Individual or Accidental Issues
Kirk's quick changes
In TOS: "The Enemy Within", Kirk can be seen without a uniform patch in all scenes at the beginning of the episode. Both Kirks, the "good" and the "evil" one, are still without the arrowhead patch after beaming back to the Enterprise. They both suddenly regain their patches in the following scenes, until the "good" one switches to the more greenish variant uniform, so we get a temporary visual distinction.
Speaking of the variant uniform, Captain Kirk enters the turbolift in his standard issue yellowish green uniform, whereas he exits wearing the green wrap-around variant in TOS: "Charlie X".
McCoy's wrong uniforms
In TOS: "Mudd's Women", Dr. McCoy awaits the arrival of the guests in the transporter room in his blue standard uniform, but in just one take he is wearing the shiny blue medical tunic, with sickbay in the background. This happens due to the use of stock footage for the reaction shot.
For some reason, McCoy appears with an incorrect engineering patch on his medical tunic throughout the whole episode in in TOS: "Obsession". In "The Immunity Syndrome", his correct science patch is back again.
Scotty's wrong insignia
Vice versa, Scotty can be seen with a wrong science patch (instead of engineering) in a couple of shots in TOS: "The Lights of Zetar", which normally shouldn't be placed on red uniforms at all.
McCoy and Spock's uniform switch
In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", toward the end of the movie, McCoy and Spock switch their uniform jackets in a split second, between two takes.
Janice Rand's promotions
Janice Rand is a yeoman in TOS and wears no rank insignia. By the time of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", with its new and more specific rank system, we can recognize her shoulder epaulets as those of a non-commissioned officer (perhaps chief petty officer). So far, so good. But in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" Grace Lee Whitney can be seen in the cafeteria, watching the Enterprise pass by through the windows and insinuating she has some sort of relationship to the ship. She now has the insignia of a commander. Is this Rand, and she has risen through the ranks? The credits simply call her a "woman in the cafeteria". Whitney reappears in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", explicitly playing Rand again, who is a communication officer by now and not an officer. So this part of her story makes sense if we don't count in "Star Trek III".
"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" adds another chapter. Rand is now an officer for real. She can be seen with the insignia of a lieutenant junior grade. When Whitney reappears a couple of years later and reprises her role for VOY: "Flashback", set at the same time as the movie, she has suddenly become a lieutenant commander. Fortunately we can explain this error away as the inaccurate memories of a delusional Vulcan, just like that whole thing with the premature death of Dimitri Valtane.
Christine Chapel's rank
In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", Chapel first appears in a beige short-sleeved uniform and a medical uniform, both with the rank tabs of a lieutenant. At the end of the movie, she wears a regular gray uniform with the rank braids of a lieutenant commander. According to a production memo by associate producer Jon Povill, Chapel was intended to be a lieutenant. In her later career in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", Chapel can be seen at Starfleet Headquarters (just like Rand), with the rank of commander.
Ex-Admiral Kirk's uniform
Kirk gets demoted from rear admiral to captain at the end of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". When we see him on his way to the Enterprise-A, his uniform has been accordingly changed. The rank insignias were switched and the flag rank stripe is gone. The costume designer, however, forgot to remove the gold piping along the uniform flap. This will happen in the next movie, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier".
Captain Scott's rank insignias
Admiral Morrow announces Montgomery Scott's promotion to "captain of engineering" during the inspection of the damaged Enterprise in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock". We can actually see that he is a captain in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier". The only time Scotty appears in a Starfleet uniform between these two events is during and after the trial at the end of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". He is still a commander. The real-world reason is obvious. After storing his uniform, it was simply forgotten to update it with something that was not part of the story of the film it appeared in. In-universe, we may surmise that the promotion has not yet taken full effect or was temporarily retracted.
Starfleet Command officer with inconsistent rank
The unnamed female attendee (played by Walter Koenig's wife Judy Levitt) of the Starfleet Command meeting in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" objects to Spock's peace talk proposals: "Are we talking about mothballing the Starfleet?" When the commander-in-chief replies to her, he addresses her as "captain". But she wears the rank insignia of an admiral.
Valeris's uniform
There are several problems with the uniform of Valeris in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", among which her rank is the most obvious one. She is always referred to as "lieutenant", although her rank insignia is that of a lieutenant commander. Also, she is wearing the red turtleneck of a cadet, the pant stripes of a command officer and gray shoulder straps instead of ochre for a helmsman. The latter are minor issues but it all doesn't fit together very well.
Colonel West's rank and affiliation
Colonel West seems like a must-have in a list of uniform errors. The character, played by René Auberjonois, shows up only in a deleted scene from "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country" but has incited fan discussions for decades. Does the rank of colonel exist in Starfleet? If yes, why is his insignia that of a vice admiral? If no, could he be a Starfleet Marine? There are many theories and no good answers, and all that about a scene with limited canonicity.
Data's wrong rank pips
After Data has been transferred to Q's "playground" in TNG: "Hide and Q", his rank insignia is initially correct. But in the sequence that follows, the pips have an invalid arrangement of "hollow-full-hollow". In "Datalore", as he looks at the children's drawings, Data is suddenly a commander.
Data's rank retcon
Data wears the rank pips of a lieutenant junior grade in the 2364 flashback scenes of TNG: "All Good Things", although he already was a lieutenant commander at this point (the time of "Encounter at Farpoint"). It is odd that the staff misremembered this. Additionally, it is odd that Picard runs into past Data in engineering by chance, instead of meeting him on the bridge, where he should rather be, or deliberately asking for his support. It almost seems like Data is retconned as a subordinate officer in the TNG finale, just like O'Brien, who is correctly an ensign in the flashback, but was retroactively demoted in TNG: "Family" and ultimately on DS9.
Geordi's parallel universe twin?
This is clearly one of the most famous costume errors. In the final scene of TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", after history has been restored, Guinan is curious about Tasha Yar, whom she met in the parallel timeline. In Ten Forward, she asks Geordi to tell her about Tasha. Geordi, however, is still wearing the alternate timeline uniform with the high collar.
TNG characters with wrong insignias
Dr. Crusher can be seen completely without rank insignia in the observation lounge scene in TNG: "Suddenly Human". In TNG: "Man of People", Geordi wears "full-hollow-hollow" pips in one scene. Picard misses a rank pip in TNG: "Cost of Living". Finally, Admiral Nechayev forgets to put on her communicator when she comes to the Enterprise in TNG: "Chain of Command I".
Janeway's fast promotion
In the official chronology, Voyager returns home around stardate 54973.4 (2377). "Star Trek Nemesis" takes place a bit less than two years later, on stardate 56844.9 (2379). Admiral Janeway appears on screen to give Captain Picard orders. She can be seen with the rank insignia of a vice admiral (three boxed pips). This means she must have been promoted three times in those less than two years: captain - one-star admiral - rear admiral - vice admiral. This is a bit of a stretch. In Picard's log entry, she will even appear as a fleet admiral! ;-)
Sisko's dress code mistake
In DS9: "Rapture", Captain Sisko (who appears with the gray vest most of the time in this episode) has misplaced the communicator in the gray shoulder part of his uniform jacket in every scene he is wearing it. We can also see that the department color stripes on his sleeves are missing. At least the wrong comm badge placement continues at the beginning of the following episode, "The Darkness and the Light", until it is fixed later on.
DS9 characters with wrong insignias
Major Kira must have dressed in a hurry, as her communicator is upside down in DS9: "The Maquis II". We can see how the O'Brien clone pulls his communicator off in DS9: "Whispers", and a rest of glue (or a Velcro fastener) is still visible on the uniform, which shouldn't be there for all we know. O'Brien's actual rank is a subject of endless confusion anyway, but totally omitting the rank insignia, as on his dress uniform in DS9: "Crossfire", doesn't seem like a good solution either. In DS9: "Rules of Engagement", it seems that Captain Sisko has been demoted to commander in one shot, as there are only three pips on his dress uniform.
Ezri Dax's wrong rank pips
The Lt. JG rank pips on Ezri's uniform are reversed in some shots in DS9: "It's Only a Paper Moon". In DS9: "Penumbra", she even gets temporarily promoted to full lieutenant while she is on the runabout searching for Worf.
Piersall's rank
A lieutenant junior grade named Piersall is in charge of the bridge of the USS Prometheus in DS9: "Second Sight". Since it is a capital ship and an important mission, this doesn't make sense. Actually, according to the script, Piersall is a lieutenant commander, and the wardrobe department apparently forgot to give him one more solid pip.
Admiral Bennett's rank
Admiral Bennett, Judge Advocate General, appears on the holo-communicator in DS9: "Dr. Bashir, I Presume", to announce the sentence for Richard Bashir. Sisko introduces him as "Rear Admiral Bennett". This would mean two boxed pips. But he wears the four pips of a full admiral, so this is a costume error (or a glitch in the holographic projection ;-)).
Nog's rank insignias
Nog, who is a cadet until now and wears no rank insignia, receives a field promotion to ensign in DS9: "Favor the Bold". Yet, his new rank insignia is a hollow pip, not a solid one. The error may have gone unnoticed and was fixed a couple of episodes later for the beginning of DS9: "Valiant" when the rank was going to matter again. But the wardrobe department got it wrong yet again. In DS9: "Valiant", Nog is field promoted by the provisional captain to lieutenant commander, but he only wears the rank insignia of a lieutenant junior grade, like the poor officer on the Prometheus.
Her dad's uniform in Janeway's illusion
Kathryn Janeway's father was an admiral and died in 2358. When Admiral Janeway appears to her in an illusion in VOY: "Coda", his uniform doesn't reflect that. We may argue that the rank insignia and the uniform style did already exist and we just haven't seen enough admirals (or the ones of TNG seasons 1 and 2 were exceptions). But the communicator is definitely anachronistic and was introduced in 2371. Never trust in your hallucinations!
Maxwell Burke's rank
Maxwell Burke is Captain Ransom's first officer on the Equinox in VOY: "Equinox I/II". He consistently wears the rank insignia of a lieutenant (two pips) in both parts of the episode. Yet, he is referred to as "commander" twice, by Janeway and by Ransom. We may argue that "commander" refers to his occupation, rather than his rank, but this is not customary in Starfleet. "Commander" plus name always implies that the person holds the rank of (lieutenant) commander.
Noah Lessing's rank
Equinox crew member Lessing is repeatedly addressed as a crewman in the double episode VOY: "Equinox I/II". But he can be seen with the single pip of an ensign throughout.
Owen Paris getting demoted?
When Owen Paris, Tom's dad, first shows up in VOY: "Persistence of Vision" and is still played by Warren Munson, it is only an illusion. His rank insignia is that of a vice admiral (three boxed pips). If Tom's memory is correct, the actual Paris apparently has been promoted prior to his first real appearance in VOY: "Pathfinder", now played by Richard Herd. He is a full admiral (four pips) in this episode. However, in VOY: "Inside Man" Paris is back to three pips. This error is corrected when he appears one final time in VOY: "Endgame" as a full admiral.
Askwith's rank and affiliation
Askwith is a guard in the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan in ENT: "The Forge". He can be seen in an Earth Starfleet uniform with a United Earth patch at the beginning of the episode. Later, after he has been seriously injured in the Syrrannite bombing, he is in a coma on Enterprise. When Tucker and Reed come to sickbay to see the only eyewitness, Phlox refers to him as "Corporal Askwith". But there is no rank of corporal in Starfleet. Maybe Askwith is a MACO who wears a Starfleet uniform for the sake of homogeneity while in diplomatic service?
Columbia helmsman's rank
Towards the end of ENT: "Affliction", Captain Erika Hernandez refers to the woman at the helm of the Columbia as "lieutenant", although her rank insignia is that of an ensign.
Jet Manhaver's extra rank pip
Lower Decks parodies the rank inconsistencies of the live action series. Jet Manhaver can be seen as a background character in a couple of season 1 episodes. His appearances are very brief, but in LOW: "Temporal Edict" we can recognize for a split second that he is an ensign. His first credited role is in LOW: "Cupid's Errant Arrow", but here he is a full lieutenant (two rank pips). Mariner: "He's like the second coolest person on the Cerritos.". Manhaver then reappears as an ensign in "Crisis Point". In "Kayshon, His Eyes Open" in the second season Manhaver shows up as an ensign yet again, just as the other three Lower Deckers. Jet himself provides the explanation in the end, that sometimes when he seems to wear the rank pips of a lieutenant, it is just a corn kernel (a retcon that may not be so easy to apply to live-action uniform errors though).
See Also
The Starfleet Delta Symbol - how it evolved and whether it used to represent only the Enterprise or the whole fleet
The Changing Styles of Starfleet Uniforms - keeping track of the many changes and the resulting problems
Credits
Many items in this article are from an error list originally written by Patrick Kovacs for Spike's Star Trek Page. Most screen caps from TrekCore. Ryan pointed out an error I made about the warrant officers. Special thanks to Captain Mike's Galactopedia and Gvsualan for observations about O'Brien's rank, to Adam for an idea about how O'Brien got "demoted" by a writer and to Tim for his suggestions about Chakotay's rank.
