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Scrambled eggs (American English) orscrambled egg (British English) is aslang term for the typicallyleaf-shaped embellishments found on thevisors ofpeaked caps worn bymilitaryofficers and (bymetonymy) for the senior officers who wear them. The phrase is derived from the resemblance that the emblems have toscrambled eggs, particularly when the embellishments are gold in color.
Today the "scrambled eggs" emblem, in one form or another, has been adopted by the majority of the world'snavies. Exceptions include theFrench Navy andItalian armed forces, which use, respectively, embroideries or different varieties of chin straps on the officers' cap bands to indicate seniority. Although the use of the term is principally military, some civilians (such as airline and merchant shipcaptains, and senior uniformed law enforcement officers) have similar embellishments on the peaks or visors of their hats.
In theBritish Armed Forces, and in the armed forces of several otherCommonwealth countries, scrambled egg (singular) is a nickname for the gold braid (called an "oak leaf sprig") on the peak of senior officers'peaked caps, and by extension a nickname for an officer. Specifically,flag officers,general officers, andair officers have two rows of golden oak leaves, whilecommodores,captains, andcommanders (Royal Navy),brigadiers andcolonels (Army), andgroup captains (RAF) have one row.
Amongst theone-star ranks there is disparity. Specifically, as Navy commodores are not classified as flag officers and Army brigadiers are not general officers, they only have one row of golden oak leaves. However, the equivalent (but lower in precedence) Air Force rank of air commodore is classified as an air officer and hence has two rows of golden oak leaves. Disparities also exist at the OF-4 rank level with Navy commanders having one row of golden oak leaves whereas their Army and RAF counterparts (lieutenant colonel andwing commander) do not have any embellishments on their peaks.
In theUnited States armed forces andUnited States Uniformed Services, "scrambled eggs" is the nickname for the golden oak leaf and acorn embellishments (known as fretting) on the bills (visors) of framed service and dress uniform caps (called service caps in the Army, combination covers in theNavy andCoast Guard, barracks covers in the Marine Corps) worn by field grade and general officers in the rank and grade ofmajor (O-4) or higher in theArmy andMarine Corps, and senior and flag officers in the rank and grade ofcommander (O-5) or higher in theNavy andCoast Guard. Commissioned Officers of theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wear similar uniforms and wear the same embellishments as the Navy while Commissioned Officers of thePublic Health Service wear similar uniforms and wear the same embellishments as the Navy or Coast Guard depending upon the duties they are performing.
Majors (O-4) and higher ranks in theAir Force andSpace Force wear silver clouds and lightning bolts[1] in lieu of oak leaves, sometimes referred to as "farts and darts".[2][3] Majors (O-4), Lieutenant Colonels (O-5), and Colonels (O-6) wear silver clouds and lightning bolts where there are two clouds on each side of the visor while all Generals (O-7 to O-10) wear silver clouds and lightning bolts where there are three clouds on each side. Additionally, Generals serving as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF) or as the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS, VJCS) wears a row of silver clouds and lightning bolts around the cap band of their service caps or dress caps.
The difference in grades when an officer assumes the wearing of embellishments is peculiar to the individual customs and traditions of each service. Due to the historical origins of naval Lieutenants and Commanders, a naval O-4 was historically classified as a senior type of Lieutenant rather than a junior type of Commander. Accordingly, the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force consider the grade of O-4 to be the first field grade officer rank, while the Navy and Coast Guard consider O-4 to still be a junior officer rank.
At theflag orgeneral officer level, O-7 and higher, additional embellishments are added to distinguish them from theUSN/USCG senior officer andUSA/USAF/USMC/USSF field grade officer ranks.
"Eggs" is also used to nickname the leaf-shaped visor decorations on the peaked caps of merchant ships'captains also indicated asshipmasters and airlinepilots. By convention this is reserved to Captains or Deputy-Captains (of four-striped rank), in contrast to the Anglo-American naval traditions, where officers ofCommander rank and above are entitled to it. Moreover, in the case of airline pilots, such "leaves" may be oak+leaf or laurel-leaf and may be gold or silver in colour, depending on individual airline uniform.
Many American police chiefs, sheriffs, and command staff law enforcement officers such as assistant chiefs and majors may wear scrambled eggs on their ball caps or dress covers' visors. Additionally, fire chiefs, rescue squad chiefs, assistant chiefs, senior fire marshals, and other senior ranking personnel such as battalion chiefs may also wear scrambled eggs on the visors of their ball cap and dress cover visors
In 1969, theSeattle Pilots ofMLB'sAmerican League wore caps with gold scrambled eggs on the visor. The team failed financially, however, and moved toMilwaukee to become theMilwaukee Brewers. This was the only time in the history of Major League Baseball where a visor had any embellishments.[citation needed]
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