Unlike other branches of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Army and Air Force give its Major Generals (O-8) some leeway in the size of the nonsubdued pin-on metal grade insignia they wear on the headgear of their Service Dress Uniforms. In the Army, for example, Generals may choose between the Regular size, which features two silver stars each an inch in diameter, Medium (3/4-inch diameter stars), or Miniature (5/8-inch.) General’s stars are centered on the flashes found on berets, with a single point up and the two horizontal rays touching (point to point). Stars that overlap beyond the flash are authorized.
These two-star insignias are also worn on the left curtain of the Heritage Green Garrison Cap that was introduced in 2018 with the "new" Army Green Service Uniform, with the quote marks denoting the fact it was only in September of 2015 that the Army's Green Service Uniform was completely discontinued.
In fact, here at The Salute Uniforms, we continue to manufacture and sell
Enlisted,
Officer, and
General Officer versions of the old "Army Greens" uniform, primarily for Veterans seeking to re-create the appearance of the Service dress uniforms they wore during their time of service, but also for uniform collectors, military afficionados, and wardrobe consultants in the TV and film industries. We also carry the
Enlisted,
Officer,
General, and
Warrant Officer versions of the old Garrison Cap worn with the uniform; this iconic headgear can be found on our
Army Hats page.
Air Force regulations state that General Officers “will wear 1 inch stars” as nonsubdued rank insignia on the General Officer Flight Cap, but that ¾-inch stars are optional if the General is “unable to wear the 1 inch stars.” Aside from matters of availability, it is hard to imagine why a Major General would be “unable” to wear 1-inch stars as cap rank insignia—but it’s also difficult to imagine asking a Major General in the Air Force for an explanation of why they are wearing the smaller version of the insignia.