Soft shoulder boards, sometimes referred to as shoulder marks in other military branches, were developed for wear on more casual types of clothing such as shirts, sweaters, and some outerwear garments manufactured with epaulettes as opposed to shoulders loops designed to accommodate larger shoulder boards. These include white dress shirts, V-neck sweaters, and maternity sweaters.
Soft boards are three-quarters the size of hard shoulder boards. While hard shoulder boards are issued in large and small sizes, the soft version comes in a single size for both male and female officers.