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So back in the day I made a thread talking about the Imperial ranks and I think all we can really conclude is that they're a bloody mess. The ESB rank scheme is reasonably "official" with the others (mainly ANH-style) being their own odd entity.

Still I got bored a few nights ago so I tried my hand at a new system:


Insignia images from SWTC

So I basically left the ESB insignia as-is and really focused on Dr. Saxton's so-called "Aesthetic 2" style, which basically takes Grand Admiral Thrawn's insignia and extrapolates from there. He didn't put a whole lot of plaques into his own interpretation but I came up with my own. As you can see, I followed a certain pattern, kind of using the "grades" from Aesthetic 1 to determine the number of columns for each plaque, going with all blue as a default and working topped gold/red from right to left. I rather like how it turned out.

TBH the whole "high rank = fewer cylinders, until you reset" always bugged me a little. With some shifting around you could probably eliminate some of that, because there are enough gaps in the chart...except for the Rank 3 insignia, as there's really just no other way to make those work than what we see. And since those were the most "consistently" used (for a given value of consistency lol) you're rather stuck with them as they are.

For Aesthetic 3 I was mostly just trying to create some kind of 'pattern' to how they worked as well, and aside from Vice Admiral I think I got it; VADM kind of stands out but well Admiral Motti exists and I was trying not to erase any actually observed insignias - with the exception of the reversed CAPT plaque we see on a passing ISB officer briefly. The good news is, Motti himself gets a nice little promotion to make him suitably senior as the highest-ranking Naval officer on the Death Star, Tagge is basically the Army equivalent to a Moff (6-star General) but I figure if he's more-or-less Number 2 to Tarkin why not? The one who really got a boost is Praji though. But then he was tasked to "see to it personally" so hey, maybe he is the Commanding General of the 501st? Well okay probably not, a more literal "Commander" mid-level rank is far more likely but hey, he makes out like a bandit here.

Admittedly the above was unnecessary; I'm sure Dr. Saxton's interpretation of the ANH system is more accurate. But I like patterns so I did it.

What do you all think? As a thoroughly fanon take on things, how do you think it compares?

Looks fine to me. Kudos for trying.

If it's any consolation, Pablo Hidalgo has gone on record saying that the plaques are inconsistent and only work in TESB. Apparently, the inconsistencies in ROTJ were due to a costuming error. This does mean we can discount ROTJ altogether.

The best I can suggest is to extrapolate based on preponderance of the evidence, but admittedly that doesn't help much. Otherwise, simply work out a system and go from there; as you've done.

One possible way would be to have a given plaque represent a grade rather than a specific rank, and use code cylinders to mark the difference. So Moffs and Grand Moffs would get the same plaque - six blue over three red and three gold - with Moffs getting two cylinders, and Grand Moffs getting four. That would at least reconcile Tarkin, Pryce, and Adelhard getting the same plaque. By contrast, Admirals have consistently gotten six red over six blue.