New Republic / Rebel Alliance Collar Device Representation and other insignia.

[thawn_es]

Anyone interested in resin castings?

 

[Vagabond Elf]

I have never seen anything to make me believe that chest badges are comm badges. Everything seems to be some sort of hand held comlink or a glove mounted comlink.

True enough. I think mostly it was a) the chest things are so complex, they're surely some kind of device and not just an insignia, and b) I didn't really start thinking about this until I was in Uni in my late teens, by which point Star Trek TNG was in season 4 or so. So I was pretty well programmed to consider a device worn on the upper breast as a communicator.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

The chest badges could be tech akin to a wireless code cylinder, card reader, and data storage device.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

SWU is not based in technology like Star Trek is. So I think if you are trying to come up with a fan theory, you need to stay simple. Additionally since SW is not SCIFI and is Fantasy, I believe design elements are more to elicit a feeling rather than to logically functional.

Since these questionable chest badges were first seen on The Empire Strikes Back Rebel Hoth uniforms, I try to put myself in the shoes of the costumer. It seems that they are simply an attempt to make the costumes have more of a military feel. Since there is already a rank chest badge, then I have to think about what other information a uniform might have. I think it simply represents something like divisional affiliation within the unit or levels of security. The Empire Strikes Back badges have colored squares that were various combos. I believe for the most part it might be as much a visual indicator like an ID badge with some minimal tech aspects like a key card.

The problem I see is as the badge moves on into Return of the Jedi and beyond. Maybe in the The Empire Strikes Back, there was some rhyme or reason for the badge and the way they looked but them it now becomes a SW look and it continues for the sake of looking SW. I find this to be the same with the leg straps on the X-Wing pilot costume. The costumers are trying to make them look like a WW2 pilot and such leg straps are part of a chute harness to keep the harness from getting pulled off overhead when decending. So if you try to determine why such straps exist on an X-Wing pilot, then can sort of consider that it might be holding the flak vest in place in case of some sort of ejection. However that theory goes out the window because since the straps are not really attached to the vest and simply pinned on to the flightsuit, the strap disappears under the The Empire Strikes Back jacket and not to the vest. Then in the sequels, the X-Wing pilots still have straps but now they attach to the belt and just hang outside the legs with not purpose at all. Clearly this goes back to my original point that SW design is goes more to a visual response.

In a lot of ways, I like that SW tends to keep things vague. I think it is why I like the look of the many various SWU styles that exist in the galaxy. The rub is that because I like it so much, I start to try to delve in why things are the way they are and get upset that something doesn't make sense. I think that is irony.

 

[JediStranger]

Having now seen the episodes - I'm going to go a little controversial and suggest that, at least for the New Republic era, two blue dots arranged vertically doesn't mean "Lieutenant." It just doesn't feel like a high enough rank for the OC of a ship that large. And if I'm being honest, I'm not 100% certain it meant "Lieutenant" in the original trilogy - off the top of my head, I can't recall any Rebel being addressed as "Lieutenant" in the movies, so our "knowledge" that it means what it means almost certainly comes from WEG assigning meaning to it in their Rebel Alliance Sourcebook.

Consider, as a counter-example, Commonwealth army rank insignia. 1 pip is 2LT, 2 pips is LT, 3 pips is CPT, and then it resets to 1 Crown is MJR, Crown + Pip is LCOL, Crown + 2 Pips is COL.

So I can imagine a setup where 1 red is 2LT/Ensign, 1 blue is 1LT/Sub-Lieutenant, 2 red is CPT/Lieutenant, 2 blue is MJR/Lieutenant-Commander, and so on up to 5 red is General/Admiral.

Of course, the only thing that can really be done to test this is to carefully go through all the movies and TV shows, note down what rank badge a character has, and what they are addressed as. Outside information such as comics, novels, Wookiepedia, etc, aren't really useful to test this to my satisfaction, especially if they post-date the WEG sourcebook. Granted, what I suspect I'd find is that the system isn't consistent.

But I do think it's legit to assume that there may have been a reset to the meanings when the Alliance became the New Republic and all the kit and organization had to start getting standardized.

Anyway, to loop back on point I'm also going to say that I don't think the NR is using the collar tabs the same way whatever military became that part of the Rebellion did, and that at this point it either means "collar tabs plus chest pips denotes rank" or "collar tabs denote some position," the most obvious being Officer Commanding of an independent vessel.

I'm very glad I'm not the only one to think about this. I suspect that for TESB John Mollo designed a rank system that worked like the US military for the Empire and Rebels where both army and navy used the same badge (Veers is a 1/2 star general, Luke is a navy commander subordinate to captain etc) . But then the sourcebooks introduced the idea that captain has the same badge regardless of denomination and we've been stuck with that ever since lol.

I remember reading in The Essential Guide to Warfare that the Rebel fleet started off so small it barely needed a traditional structure anyway and it was only when Ackbar took over and was like "right, we're doing this properly" that one began to emerge. I was optimistic that they would follow this through in canon with the idea of fighter command using army red ranks (like all in the Resistance) and naval aviators using fleet blue, especially as Wedge canonically is promoted from lieutenant to Lt.Cmdr, Cmdr, CAPT, Nien Numb is a Lt.Cmdr not a Major and the Mandalorian showed pilots wearing the navy badges with the blue flight suits alongside regular orange ones (fighter command).

But then we had that Colonel Tim Meadows wearing a blue 4-dot badge and the Captain in the first episode of Ahsoka wearing a 2-dot. Mind you, given the navy has the practice of referring to the officer in charge of a vessel as captain regardless of rank, he could still be a senior-grade Lt.

There's also the fact that we do have Lieutenants leading squadrons (Alphabet Squadron, Resistance, TLJ). This seems a bit odd, until you realise that Star Wars has consistently shown squadron leaders with the army rank of Captain, and if the naval equivalent was a Senior Lieutenant that would at least line up.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I'm very glad I'm not the only one to think about this. I suspect that for TESB John Mollo designed a rank system that worked like the US military for the Empire and Rebels where both army and navy used the same badge (Veers is a 1/2 star general, Luke is a navy commander subordinate to captain etc) . But then the sourcebooks introduced the idea that captain has the same badge regardless of denomination and we've been stuck with that ever since lol.

I remember reading in The Essential Guide to Warfare that the Rebel fleet started off so small it barely needed a traditional structure anyway and it was only when Ackbar took over and was like "right, we're doing this properly" that one began to emerge. I was optimistic that they would follow this through in canon with the idea of fighter command using army red ranks (like all in the Resistance) and naval aviators using fleet blue, especially as Wedge canonically is promoted from lieutenant to Lt.Cmdr, Cmdr, CAPT, Nien Numb is a Lt.Cmdr not a Major and the Mandalorian showed pilots wearing the navy badges with the blue flight suits alongside regular orange ones (fighter command).

But then we had that Colonel Tim Meadows wearing a blue 4-dot badge and the Captain in the first episode of Ahsoka wearing a 2-dot. Mind you, given the navy has the practice of referring to the officer in charge of a vessel as captain regardless of rank, he could still be a senior-grade Lt.

There's also the fact that we do have Lieutenants leading squadrons (Alphabet Squadron, Resistance, TLJ). This seems a bit odd, until you realise that Star Wars has consistently shown squadron leaders with the army rank of Captain, and if the naval equivalent was a Senior Lieutenant that would at least line up.

I am a retired USN, LCDR and I can tell you that whatever you know about US officer ranks no matter which branch, just forget it because it does not directly apply to the SWU, at least not when we talk rebels and resistance members. Furthermore, you also have to forget anything from the old canon. Those old West End books, Video Game ranking systems, etc... appears to have been swept away. So any confusion fans have is understandable.

For the most part, I believe this ranking system for resistance members holds up for Rebels/New Republic as well. The only difference is that the resistance ranks connected the dots. It is a combo of know Army and Navy rank names intertwined and this rank system (they did a similar thing in BSG) applies to both the Army and Navy forces with the exception of nomenclatures for General and Admiral based on the branch.

In case you can not envision it in your head.. I added a dot to represent the pips of the older badges.

From what I have observed, the Imperials use the rank of Captain like traditional Navy (pay grade of 06 which is the same as a Colonel ins the Army) For the Rebels, New Republic, Resistance, the rank of Captain is like that of the Army (pay grade 03 which is that of a Lieutenant in the Navy).

However, the Rebels, New Republic, Resistance do use the term of Captain as a position (as you touched on above), meaning that they have command of a ship or unit but is not necessarily the rank of that person. But it is considered proper in a military unit to address a person as Captain even if not their rank. It is hard to tell in the OT what rank Han is prior to that of General because he might be getting address as Captain Solo because he is Captain of the Falcon or if he also happens to be the rank of Captain as well.

Lastly, the SWU tends to also assign ranks a lot differently than the real military. But if you go through a few posts back, you can see a real Navy LT (Capt in the Army) who is getting a command pin afloat for a unit so there is real precedence for the junior officer like the one in Ahsoka to have command of a ship. Most likely to, as a transport, it might be considered a smaller ship, and a stepping stone to higher ranks and bigger ships. But, I think the SWU throws out General ranks like Samuel L Jackson throws out F@&%S.

 

[TK41434]

I am a retired USN, LCDR and I can tell you that whatever you know about US officer ranks no matter which branch, just forget it because it does not directly apply to the SWU, at least not when we talk rebels and resistance members. Furthermore, you also have to forget anything from the old canon. Those old West End books, Video Game ranking systems, etc... appears to have been swept away. So any confusion fans have is understandable.

For the most part, I believe this ranking system for resistance members holds up for Rebels/New Republic as well. The only difference is that the resistance ranks connected the dots. It is a combo of know Army and Navy rank names intertwined and this rank system (they did a similar thing in BSG) applies to both the Army and Navy forces with the exception of nomenclatures for General and Admiral based on the branch.

View attachment 1736075

In case you can not envision it in your head.. I added a dot to represent the pips of the older badges.

View attachment 1736078

From what I have observed, the Imperials use the rank of Captain like traditional Navy (pay grade of 06 which is the same as a Colonel ins the Army) For the Rebels, New Republic, Resistance, the rank of Captain is like that of the Army (pay grade 03 which is that of a Lieutenant in the Navy).

However, the Rebels, New Republic, Resistance do use the term of Captain as a position (as you touched on above), meaning that they have command of a ship or unit but is not necessarily the rank of that person. But it is considered proper in a military unit to address a person as Captain even if not their rank. It is hard to tell in the OT what rank Han is prior to that of General because he might be getting address as Captain Solo because he is Captain of the Falcon or if he also happens to be the rank of Captain as well.

Lastly, the SWU tends to also assign ranks a lot differently than the real military. But if you go through a few posts back, you can see a real Navy LT (Capt in the Army) who is getting a command pin afloat for a unit so there is real precedence for the junior officer like the one in Ahsoka to have command of a ship. Most likely to, as a transport, it might be considered a smaller ship, and a stepping stone to higher ranks and bigger ships. But, I think the SWU throws out General ranks like Samuel L Jackson throws out F@&%S.

I know, I know ... this thread is about the New Republic / Rebel Alliance.
But this was a great explanation it makes me a little bit easier to understand these Rebel Scums
Do you have something similar about the Imperials? On the Internet you can find many charts, but they are mostly different to each other.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Imperials don’t need rank… they are rank.

I can’t help you on this one as I never had a direct interest to investigate. Like you said, there is a ton of internet info but I think most is either based off old canon info or fan speculation or both.

I think you are going to find this is the type of thing we mentioned above with the rebel ID (?} badges that have and will stay vague.

I personally have to wonder if the intentions of those badges were for rank but just over time, they were interpreted as such. To me, they always looked more like what the SWU of award ribbons would look like.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

I'm fairly confident that the Imperial insignia were indeed intended to portray rank. I'm also very confident that in ANH the system was nothing more complicated than "more is better and Tarkin's is unique." Although the X-Wing and Y-Wing models are both examples of how the props shop would do their own unofficial storytelling, so it's possible that the props department had a system. (Especially given that military veterans were still pretty common in 1976.) Obviously by ROTJ people just aren't paying attention any more, but I think it's not unreasonable to map the ANH symbols onto either NATO or US military and navy ranks.

I think it makes sense that the Resistance would adopt New Republic ranks, and so your suggested "backdating" of the symbology seems plausible. I think that unless someone rewatches all the NR era shows and takes notes about what titles characters are addressed with, it will be hard to know for certain; at this point, I'm starting to think that the NR Fleet is using the same rank symbols as the Star Trek pilots episodes: two dots or stripes means "in charge of this ship" and one dot or stripe means "all the other officers on this ship."

I continue to doubt that there was any standard rank system for the Rebellion. Certain cells, especially those built around defecting/rebelling military or fleet units, probably retained their previous structure, but the Rebellion as a whole? I very much doubt it.

Again, I'd have to rewatch, but I'm pretty sure the only ranks we hear used are "General" - applied to Madine, Han, Lando, and maybe Rieken? (I can't recall if he's ever addressed as "General" on screen); "Captain" - applied, to my memory, only to Han (I don't think that Captain Antilles of the Tantive IV is ever addressed as such on screen, and if he is it wouldn't neccesarily count since he is still openly serving Alderaan); "Commander" - applied only to Luke unless I'm misremembering something; "Admiral" - applied to Akbar and again I'm not 100% certain its said on screen; and finally "Deck Officer," which is clearly more of a position than a rank. I honestly don't think we ever hear anyone be called "Lieutenant" on screen; but I admit it's been a minute since I watched the OT.

Anyway, even if there are Lieutenants, these ranks could be the lingering remnants of other military forces' traditions - or they could be something more reminiscent of the way ranks worked in the 17th century as the idea of a structured military was really just [re]emerging in Europe. In that case, "Admiral" would mean "person in charge of a substantial number of ships," "Captain" would mean "person in charge of a singe ship," "Commander" would mean "person in charge of a combat unit," and General would mean "person in charge of an independent force." "Lieutenant," if there are any in the Rebellion, would mean "assistant officer," which is basically what it means anyway.

In this structure, Han is addressed as "Captain" in ANH and ESB because really, all he's in charge of is the Falcon; but ROTJ he's been given command of the independent commando that's attacking the Endor bunker and gets to be a "General." Lando is also a "General" because he's in command of the starfighters at Endor, and apparently the starfighters are considered a military asset instead of a fleet one. Rieken is a "General" because he's in charge of Echo Base Hoth. These three examples show us that "General" doesn't mean "person in charge of lots of soldiers/aviators" but each of those groups is a mostly independent force. Luke is a "Commander" because he's in charge of Rogue Squadron which is a single unit but not an independent force.

Something amorphous and inconsistent like that still fits the available evidence, and feels right for what is really an ad-hoc force made up of a bunch of only-most-co-operating insurrectionists and mutineers, that lack any kind of a common structure or history and have started handing out titles based on functional capability more than anything else.

 

[division 6]

The Disney route.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

The Disney route.
View attachment 1736495View attachment 1736496

I have that set and I went to check it out prior to posting. I skipped it because since the set is limited on how far you can break it down, it does not attempt to list lower ranks below those that are lesser than 6 sections across. So even if it is accurate, it is a partial rank list. I really like the set though. I have no idea how accurate those rank listings are in conjunction to on screen references.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I continue to doubt that there was any standard rank system for the Rebellion. Certain cells, especially those built around defecting/rebelling military or fleet units, probably retained their previous structure, but the Rebellion as a whole? I very much doubt it.

I think that once the individual factions or an individual decided to join the greater entity of the Alliance they are given a rank based on role/position/skillset. Hera is a good example when she decided to join Phoenix and received the rank of Captain,

and maybe Rieken? (I can't recall if he's ever addressed as "General" on screen);

Leia mentions his General rank to Solo after Solo accuses Leia of keeping him on Hoth longer.

and finally "Deck Officer," which is clearly more of a position than a rank.

I agree. Example: When I was a third class petty officer, I served as a Plane Captain... I was called a Plane Captain but it did not make me a Captain.

Anyway, even if there are Lieutenants, these ranks could be the lingering remnants of other military forces' traditions - or they could be something more reminiscent of the way ranks worked in the 17th century as the idea of a structured military was really just [re]emerging in Europe. In that case, "Admiral" would mean "person in charge of a substantial number of ships," "Captain" would mean "person in charge of a singe ship," "Commander" would mean "person in charge of a combat unit," and General would mean "person in charge of an independent force." "Lieutenant," if there are any in the Rebellion, would mean "assistant officer," which is basically what it means anyway.

In this structure, Han is addressed as "Captain" in ANH and ESB because really, all he's in charge of is the Falcon; but ROTJ he's been given command of the independent commando that's attacking the Endor bunker and gets to be a "General." Lando is also a "General" because he's in command of the starfighters at Endor, and apparently the starfighters are considered a military asset instead of a fleet one. Rieken is a "General" because he's in charge of Echo Base Hoth. These three examples show us that "General" doesn't mean "person in charge of lots of soldiers/aviators" but each of those groups is a mostly independent force. Luke is a "Commander" because he's in charge of Rogue Squadron which is a single unit but not an independent force.

I'm not sure I buy into exactly the specific examples but I do agree with the general thought. I do believe that as I mentioned in earlier posts about rank, you have to forget about what you know about real military and you bring up another aspect of that. Yes, you can match some real world examples or ranks and titles as you see in SWU but it also it's own thing so the reason and tasking of why you would promote someone to General in the real world is not the same for promoting someone to General in the SWU. You can go back to the Clone Wars where every Jedi is a general. That's a lot of generals.

Also it should be mentioned that Rogue Squadron is not a thing in the OT. That name did not exist till Zahn came up with it in Heir to the Empire. In The Empire Strikes Back, they have Rogue Group. It is of my opinion that they are using the term group in the way the navy did before they replaced it with wing. In simple terms, a group (now wing) is the name for the squadrons together on a mission. So my belief is that Echo Base, there are more than one squadron. Red Squadron is simply one of them but there are others. The snow speeder group doing patrols and defense is made up of personnel of the various squadrons and therefore they utilize callsigns based on the group and not their individual squadron.

Also, I think it is unfair to say Han's duties are limited to that of Captain of the Falcon. After all, he is out there with Luke placing markers, and he is heads out to deal with the imperial probe droid. It seems obvious that he has other responsibilities and is accountable for more than just Falcon duties.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

FYI: here is at least one rebellion Lieutenant:

Lieutenant Dicer

One of the rebellion's pilots, Lieutenant Dicer was among the first to try to set up a base on Atollon. Unfortunately for Dicer, the world was not as desolate as believed -- huge spider-like creatures called krykna lived below the surface. After the krykna attacked, all that was left of Dicer...

www.starwars.com

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Just to make sure we are staying prop related, here are some rebel badge replicas I have…

The navy commander and the army major rank (or army commander and navy major if you rotate the image) was made by me 20 years ago. It utilizes the correct size button lenses as the originals. A lot of research went into making sure the backings were the correct size. I have since had confirmation that they are correct.

The R1 style Andor Captain rank badge is from Etsy. I never did the research on that but it looks good to me. I assume the green is some sort of intelligence branch of the rebellion, it might be listed somewhere in canon but I don’t recall. I do like these sunken style of pips that they did in R1.

It should also be noted that in the OT, the backing size of the badge was larger the higher ranks to fit the extra pips. This was known for the production of Ahsoka when the rebel rank badges and collar devices were being researched for recreation but it was determined that the backings would all be the same size in order to not get confused. So I guess we as fans can justify it as a change in the way way things were done in the New Republic.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

I think that once the individual factions or an individual decided to join the greater entity of the Alliance they are given a rank based on role/position/skillset. Hera is a good example when she decided to join Phoenix and received the rank of Captain,

Hera didn't "receive" the rank of Captain, Hera is addressed as Captain because she's the owner/operator of the Ghost,, just as Han is the owner/operator of the Falcon. That's something she brought with her when she joined the Rebellion, not a title the Rebels gave her.

Also it should be mentioned that Rogue Squadron is not a thing in the OT. That name did not exist till Zahn came up with it in Heir to the Empire. In The Empire Strikes Back, they have Rogue Group.

Oh, right. Well, Luke is a "Commander" because he's either in command of whatever Squadron that is, or because he's in command of Rogue Group, neither of which is an independent entity. Basically, in my mind "Commander" means "person in command of something," much like during the 18th and early 19th centuries "Commander" wasn't a rank. It was just a word that meant "Person who hasn't been added to the Captain's list but is permanently in command of an ocean-going vessel." In other words, "Commander" was a position, not a rank.

Red Squadron

Oh god that angers me so much. Of all the stupid things the WEG writers came up with because no-one on the writing staff understood how armed forces work, their inability to recognise that "Red" and "Gold" are radio call signs and not names is the one that will make me rant for days.

"Rogue Group" is a named entity; one of the squadrons in it is designated "Red Squadron." If, next week, that X-Wing squadron got shifted over to "Pumpkin Group," and Pumpkin Group already had a Red Squadron, than those X-Wings would become "Green Squadron." Or whatever. And of course all of that only works in Rebel cells that are using structures they took with them from the Alderaan Guard; if they move to a group working on the rules of the Commenor Defence Force, which squadron is "Red" squadron changes from mission to mission. (Obviously this is my interpretation; it is not contradicted by anything on film but also not directly supported by it.)

Though I suppose one might postulate a bunch of Rebels who also don't understand how radio call signs work to make the same mistake and start permanently naming squadrons for colours...

Also, I think it is unfair to say Han's duties are limited to that of Captain of the Falcon. After all, he is out there with Luke placing markers, and he is heads out to deal with the imperial probe droid. It seems obvious that he has other responsibilities and is accountable for more than just Falcon duties.

I think this illustrates where we are talking past each other. I'm arguing (in the academic sense, not meaning to suggest any antagonism) that Han, and indeed the Rebellion as a whole, doesn't really have formal positions, duties, assignments, any of that stuff. They just have jobs that need doing, and people who are willing to step up and do the job. Some folks, like Han, Luke, and Leia, proactively try to get jobs done. Other people, like the grunts with rifles, are willing to help but mostly wait to be told what to do. Any resemblance to military structure or discipline is an artefact of the way most of the Rebels are ex-military sorts who, based on the available equipment, clearly mutinied en masse. Overall, though, I'd think the Rebellion is more like Afghan mujahideen or Kurdish militia - a bunch of groups that have wildly varying skill, organisation, and equipment, but the boss of each of them gets a fancy title like "General" or "Admiral." So Han, who is clearly very active in the Rebellion, doesn't have any real title (other than the "Captain" that he brought with him when he joined) because there's not that much organisation.


Hmm. Now I'm thinking I should try to learn more about how the American forces in their revolution were structured, as I suspect that a story written by Americans in the 1970s would have drawn heavily on that.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

FYI: here is at least one rebellion Lieutenant:

Lieutenant Dicer

One of the rebellion's pilots, Lieutenant Dicer was among the first to try to set up a base on Atollon. Unfortunately for Dicer, the world was not as desolate as believed -- huge spider-like creatures called krykna lived below the surface. After the krykna attacked, all that was left of Dicer...

www.starwars.com

First: is she addressed as "Lieutenant" on screen? Because there's lots of characters described as Lt this and Mjr that whose ranks are retroactively applied because of the badge they're wearing.

Second: in my opinion, the animated shows are not an accurate source for details of the universe; to use legal jargon, they are persuasive, but not binding, and if an explanation fits with live-action and is otherwise very satisfying but contradicts animation, the animation can be ignored. So if for some reason I decided that not having Lieutenants is supported by the films, I'd be content to ignore Dicer.

Although, given that in my opinion individual cells would still be using their pre-Rebel structures and Pheonix cell is clearly a naval force that's mutinied, it's probably reasonable to say that whatever fleet or militia they came from had a robust rank structure even if the Rebellion as a whole doesn't use "Lieutenant" to mean anything.

Which, to loop this back, does make me a little nervous about Ahsoka the show, because while I love Filoni's storytelling I don't fully trust his ability to build a consistent and nuanced world.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Hera didn't "receive" the rank of Captain, Hera is addressed as Captain because she's the owner/operator of the Ghost,, just as Han is the owner/operator of the Falcon. That's something she brought with her when she joined the Rebellion, not a title the Rebels gave her.

The rebels bestowed on her the rights and responsibilities of that of an officer at the level of Captain in the Alliance when she joins Phoenix Squadron. That is why she is allowed and does wear the Alliance Captain rank insignia.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Back to insignia…

These are all about 20 years old and were made by Corellianexports.

The two The Empire Strikes Back badges have paint schemes that reflect Luke/Leia (left) and Han (right)

The Return of the Jedi badge was made prior to some of the actual model piece discoveries but it’s still a nice addition to my rebel badge display.

 

[Corellianexports]

20 years certainly flew by, but those early badges turned out to be the best casts I did.

And even after 20 years, I'm still being surprised with new reference photos we're coming across. Recently, Hasbro produced an updated ESB Rebel Solder with a reference photo I hadn't seen before. The ESB badge he is wearing has a different color configuration from the two Han and Luke/Leia badges we all know and love:

From left to right: Luke/Leia Badge, Han Solo Badge and the Rebel Soldier (More than likely an Officer) badge.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

A lot of my original X-Wing and rebel costume and prop research was 20 years ago so you will see 20 years remarked a lot.

20 years ago, I believe I might have been the first to notice that in some cases, Luke is wearing his rank badge on his flight jacket as well. It’s hard to know for sure if he wears it all the time or simply in certain scenes like those where he is filming on location in Norway due to the fact that it is usually hidden under his vest. But in this case where he is reaching up, it is seen. I believe it is also slightly visible as he climbs out of the crashed snowspeeder.