What is an epaulette? An epaulette is an ornamental shoulder piece worn by pilots, simply put, it's the black and gold piece of material you see pilots wearing on their shoulders. Does it have a purpose? Yes! Other than looking "cool" and making pilots feel like they are the coolest bunch of people to roam the Earth, they primarily serve the purpose of showing rank.
The golden bars on the epaulette are an indication of the pilot's level of rank either during training or once a pilot is in an airline. They can also show certain qualifications, for example a pilot with a PPL (Private Pilot's Licence) will wear epaulettes that have two golden bars whilst a pilot with a CPL (Commercial Pilot's Licence) will in most cases wear one with three golden bars.
A Captain always; at least, most of the time sits in the left hand seat of the aircraft and wears a four barred epaulette. The Captain is in most cases, the most experienced pilot onboard and supervises all crew members and is responsible to, with the help of his/her First Officer, make the major decisions during a normal flight and during an emergency. He/she is responsible for the aircraft, cargo, all passengers and crew.
Usually a three barred First Officer also called the Second in Command sits in the right hand seat of the cockpit. I am sure you have heard of the saying “Right Hand Man” well this is where it comes from. Some companies have epaulets with two gold bars for Second Officers. These pilots generally have their Commercial Pilot's Licence but do not yet possess their Airline Transport Pilot's Licence. First Officers are qualified to operate the aircraft in all stages of flight, including takeoffs and landings, however in bigger aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 and the likes, the Captain of the aircraft performs the taxi phase of the flight using something called a tiller, this piece of equipment looks vaguely similar to a car's steering wheel and serves a similar purpose, to steer the nose wheel. The tiller is on the captain's side of the aircraft and thus the first officers in bigger aircraft do not taxi the aircraft before take-off and after landing.
While Airline Pilots wear golden bars, military pilots in the Navy and Air Force wear different insignia to indicate their level of expertise, experience and rank.
Epaulettes with one golden bar are not normally used for airline pilots but are sometimes used for Trainees. Bar colours sometimes vary from Airline to Airline and Company to Company. They are however, generally gold bars on a black or dark blue background.
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