The O-6 Officer grade of Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard and Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force is the highest (O-6) of all non-General Officer ranks. The insignia employed by all branches of the Armed Forces of the United States for O-6 officers is a silver eagle with outspread wings, charged with a shield and clutching olive leaves in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other.
However, while all five forces follow the same rule that the eagle must be facing forward, the Army and Air Force use a different design of the insignia than the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard when the insignia is not worn in pairs. The eagle worn on the front of the Army beret or the left side of the Air Force flight cap is looking to its right; because the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard wear the insignia on the cap’s right side, the eagle is looking to its left. This also results in the contents of the eagles’ talons being switched because of another rule: the eagle is always facing toward the olive branches, indicating our country’s willingness to seek a peaceful alternative to conflict.
The silver eagle of Captains and Colonels is worn on the right side of the Navy’s
black or
khaki caps, the Marine Corps’ green caps for
males and
females, and the Coast Guard
blue Garrison Cap. It comes in the same size as the
collar insignia worn by O-6 officers in these branches.