Rank Charts for Civil War Navies
Confederate Marine Corps

There is a certain amount of variability to CSMC officer uniforms in the photographic evidence. The use of Navy blue / black on collars and cuffs may have been for dress uniforms only. Unlike the USMC, the Russian knots worn on the shoulders did not carry any insignia; that was expressed by the collar tabs and lace on the cuffs. On both field and dress uniforms, the Austrian knots on the sleeves are gold; their appearance as black in some photos is due to the Navy blue backing used for the dress uniform, and the fact that yellow often photographed as black in early pictures (see footnote).

Officers' Collar Insigniae
Colonel	Captain
Lieutenant Colonel	1st Lieutenant
Major	2nd Lieutenant

Officers' Cuff Insigniae
Colonel	Lt. Colonel	Major	Captain	1st Lieutenant	2nd Lieutenant

NCOs'  Insigniae (1)
Sergeant Major	Quartermaster Sergeant	Drum Major / Ordnance Sgt	1st Sergeant / Orderly Sgt	Sergeant	Corporal

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(1) Some sources suggest black stripes on a dark gray backing. There is no textual evidence for this practice and no indication that the CSMC changed from USMC usage. All other service branches used the same color schemes as their US counterparts. An explanation for the confusion lies perhaps in the way old film rendered colors. As late as the First World War, black and white film often made yellow and other warm colors appear much darker than they were in reality—sometimes even looking darker than black. Take a look through photos of women from the war years--why are there no blondes?