As Staff Noncommissioned Officers (SNCOs), all Marine Corps Master Sergeants are authorized to wear the SNCO Evening Dress uniform. For males, this also means replacing the standard scarlet and gold chevrons with a special version based upon the design of Marine Corps chevrons from the 1890s (it is listed as “SNCO” in the Finish Selection Box to the right). This distinctive insignia and its outsized base is considerably shorter the standard Master Sergeant insignia, and consequently it is sewn on with its top three inches from the shoulder seam as opposed to the four-inch space when wearing regular chevrons.
Standard-sized chevrons are manufactured in large and small sizes for men and women respectively, with specific color combinations worn on the Blue Dress and Service coats and the long- and short-sleeve khaki shirt. Male and female Blue Dress coats and the female Evening Dress jacket take the gold chevrons on scarlet backing, while Service coats require green stripes on a scarlet background. Green chevrons on a khaki background are worn on the khaki shirt.
Both large and small Master Sergeant chevrons are worn centered horizontally on the outer half of coat and shirt sleeves, with the top of the insignia four inches from the shoulder seam on all coats and the long-sleeve khaki shirt. The insignia is centered vertically on the short-sleeve khaki shirt sleeves, equidistant from the shoulder seam and the bottom of the sleeve when worn on men’s shirts and centered between the shoulder seam and the peak of cuff on women’s shirts.