The crew of an aircraft is a team: captain, co-pilot, flight engineer and flight attendants. The inquisitive “Subtleties” decided to find out by what signs one can distinguish the commander from other crew members. Civil aviation pilots wear uniforms whose style and color were once borrowed from military pilots. But the insignia – stripes on the sleeves and epaulettes on the tunic – came from the navy: according to legend, the captains of ships received the right to wear stripes on the sleeves and epaulettes after Admiral Nelson's victories over Napoleon. The famous military leader defeated the Napoleonic fleet 4 times, and since then, ship commanders have worn 4 stripes on their sleeves and epaulettes. /fs.tonkosti.ru/sized/f550x700/f3/mx/f3mxqops71w8048g8ooc4g404.jpg” media=”(max-width: 549px)”> The same rule applies to aircraft commanders: their uniform is marked with 4 sleeve stripes and 4 galloons (narrow stripes) on shoulder straps. It is by the number of stripes that you can recognize the captain of the aircraft. The stripes must be gold in color: silver insignia are worn by representatives of ground personnel – technical and other specialists serving the flight at the airport. The exception is air traffic controllers, whose uniforms are also marked with gold stripes, although they work on the ground. 3 stripes on the sleeves and shoulder straps mean that you have a co-pilot or flight engineer in front of you, 2 stripes are found on the uniform of flight attendants and cadets who have made at least one solo flight. The 1st lane is for cadets of flight schools who are just undergoing training and have not yet flown independently. 
A bit of history
Counting stripes
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