History of Vietnamese military ranks

Ranks of the Border Defence Force were formally decreed to use the same ones used by the Army with dark-green background and red piping.

The shoulder boards of all officers, NCOs and enlisted personnel formally changed to their present design.

Coast Guard ranks and ratings were defined with dark-purple and yellow background.

Professional officers also use the straight metal chevron but have a pink stripe running between the shoulderboards to differentiate.

General and flag officer's shoulderboards are woven with floating Dong Son drums and flamingos.

To mark the Millenium of Hanoi, the VPN debuted a new service sleeve rank system for the officer corps, which includes the executive curl used in many countries.