Editing Continental Army (section)

===Rank insignia===
[[File: The American Soldier - U.S. Center of Military History.jpg|thumb|An illustration depicting Major General [[Artemas Ward]], one of Washington's key officers]]
During the [[American Revolutionary War]], the Continental Army initially wore [[ribbon]]s, [[cockade]]s, and [[epaulette]]s of various colors as an ''ad hoc'' form of rank insignia, as General George Washington wrote in 1775:
{{blockquote |"As the Continental Army has unfortunately no uniforms in 1775, and consequently many inconveniences must arise from not being able to distinguish the commissioned officers from the privates, it is desired that some badge of distinction be immediately provided; for instance that the field officers may have red or pink colored cockades in their hats, the captains yellow or buff, and the [[subalterns]] green."}}

In 1776, captains were to have buff or white cockades.
;Rank insignia in 1775
{| class="wikitable" 
|- style="background:#dadada"
! 
! colspan=4| General officers
! colspan=1| Field officers
! colspan=2| Junior officers
! colspan=2| Non-commissioned officers
|- style="text-align:center;"
| Title 
| [[General (United States)|General]]<br />and<br />[[Commander-in-chief]]
| [[Major general (United States)|Major general]]
| [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier general]]
| [[Aide-de-camp]]
| [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]],<br />[[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant colonel]],<br />[[Major (United States)|Major]]
| [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]]
| [[Lieutenant (United States)|Lieutenant]],<br />[[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]]
| [[Sergeant]]
| [[Corporal]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| Insignia
| [[File:Continental Army-General.svg|75px]]
| [[File:Continental Army-Major general.svg|75px]]
| [[File:Continental Army-Brigadier general.svg|75px]]
| [[File:Continental Army-Aide-de-camp.svg|75px]]
| [[File:Continental Army-Colonel.svg|70px]]
| [[File:Continental Army-Captain.svg|70px]]
| [[File: National Cockade of Ireland (until 1922).svg|70px]]
| [[File:Epaulette plain red.png|70px]]
| [[File:Epaulette plain green one.png|70px]]
|-
| colspan=10| Source:<ref>Steven A. Bingaman (2013), ''The History of American Ranks and Rank Insignia,'' p. 11.</ref>
|}
Later on in the war, the Continental Army established its own uniform with a black and white cockade among all ranks. Infantry officers had silver and other branches gold insignia:

;Rank insignia in 1780
{| class="wikitable" 
|- style="background:#dadada"
! 
! colspan=3| General officers
! colspan=3| Field officers
! colspan=2| Junior officers
! colspan=3| Non-commissioned officers
! Enlisted
|- style="text-align:center;"
| Title 
| [[Commander-in-chief]]
| [[Major general (United States)|Major general]]
| [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier general]]
| [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant colonel]]
| [[Major (United States)|Major]]
| [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]]
| [[Subaltern (military)|Subaltern]]
| [[Sergeant major]]
| [[Sergeant]]
| [[Corporal]]
| [[Private (rank)|Private]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| Insignia
| [[File:WashingtonInsig1782.jpg|105px]]<div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-180|display=block}}">[[File:WashingtonInsig1782.jpg|105px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-90|display=block}}">[[File:Gen.Div-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div> <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-270|display=block}}">[[File:Gen.Div-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-90|display=block}}">[[File:Gen.Brig-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div> <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-270|display=block}}">[[File:Gen.Brig-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-90|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div> <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-270|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-90|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div> <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-270|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-90|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div> <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-270|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-270|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-90|display=block}}">[[File:Colonel-ImpFrArmy.jpg|70px]]</div>
| [[File:Epaulette plain red.png|70px]] <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-180|display=block}}">[[File:Epaulette plain red.png|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-180|display=block}}">[[File:Epaulette plain red.png|70px]]</div>
| <div style="position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; {{Transform-rotate|-180|display=block}}">[[File:Epaulette plain green one.png|70px]]</div>
| No insignia
|-
| colspan=13| Source:{{efn|For commissioned officers 'metal epaulets were introduced by a general order dated June 18. 1780 (except for those of the CIC). For non-commissioned officers, cloth epaulets were prescribed since a general order dated July 23. 1775. That order differentiated only between the ranks of ''serjeant'' and ''corporal''. At the end of the war, the ''serjeant-major'' was recognizable by a pair of cloth epaulets. The number, position, and color of the NCO-epaulettes were changed several times.}}
|}