Two stars are used as the rank insignia for General / Flag Officers in the O-8 pay grade. The rank title is Major General for officers in the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps, and Rear Admiral (upper half) in the Navy (often referred to simply as Rear Admirals, with their O-7 counterparts identified by the “lower half” description). To avoid confusion, each branch uses a different abbreviation for its Major Generals: MG for Army, MajGen for Air Force, and Maj Gen for Marines.
Regardless of rank, all our point-to-center General / Flag Officer star rank insignias are one-inch in diameter and feature a nickel-plated anodized finish. The uniforms or uniform components these point-to-center star ranks can be worn with varies by service (the Navy does not employ a point-to-center configuration for any of its Flag Officer insignias).
Marine Corps Major Generals wear Regular (1”) size 2-star insignia in a point-to-center configuration on dress jackets, dress/service coats, the all-weather coat, tanker jacket, field coat, and the blue dress sweater. They should be positioned so they are equally spaced between the shoulder seam and the shoulder strap button or edge of the collar (whichever is closer).
In the Army, Major Generals wear these pin-on metal rank insignias with a point-to-center alignment on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU), Black or Green All-Weather Coats, and Black or Green Windbreakers, with a single ray of the star pointing toward the collar and two rays pointing toward the shoulder. As you can see from the image, these two stars are mounted on a bar, and the bar is worn centered on the shoulder loop. (Note: the same insignia with both stars on a bar is authorized for wear on the Black Beret and Garrison Cap, but the cap and coat/shoulder versions have stars arranged in a point-to-point fashion instead of point-to-center as seen here.
Click here to see the Cap Rank version.The stars are positioned equidistant between the outside edge of the shoulder loop and the outer edge of the shoulder loop button.
Navy Rear Admirals (upper half) are authorized to wear Regular size stars on the shoulder straps (epaulets) of blue all-weather coats, khaki jackets, blue jackets and black jackets. The insignia is placed three-quarters of an inch from the squared (shoulder) end of the shoulder strap.
Major Generals in the Air Force wear one-inch, point-to-center two-star insignia on the epaulets of the jackets of the Men’s and Women’s Service Dress Uniforms, as well as on the General Officer Lightweight Blue Jacket. (Point-to-center stars are also worn on the Flight Duty Uniform (FDU) and Desert FDU, but these are embroidered in Flag Blue, cable 67125.)
Rear Admirals in the Coast Guard wear these on outerwear epaulets so that the insignia’s outer edge is three-quarters of an inch from and parallel to the straight side of the epaulet. Please refer to 4.A.3, Officer Rank Insignia Placement, in COMDTINST M1020.6J for reference.