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This page is about the pattern or symbol called a chevron. For information on the global energy company, see ChevronTexaco.
 Single Chevron-Rank: Private E2, US Army |
 Chevronels, in the arms of Letchworth Garden City |
 Double Chevron-Rank: Corporal E4, US Army |
A chevron (also spelled cheveron, especially in older documents) is a V-shaped pattern.
The word is usually used in reference to a kind of fret in architecture, or to a badge or insignia used in military or police uniforms to indicate rank or length of service, or in heraldry. The origin seems to be the shape of the rafters of a building.
In areas observing United States or British Commonwealth doctrine, chevrons are used as an insignia of enlisted or NCO rank by land military forces and by police. One chevron usually designates a private, two a corporal, and three a sergeant. One to four "rockers" may be also be incorporated to indicate various grades of sergeant. In American usage, chevrons typically point up, or on shoulderboards towards the neck; in Commonwealth usage (and in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force), they usually point down, or on shoulderboards away from the neck.
Small chevrons are part of the insigne to indicate length of time serving in some armies. They are worn on the lower left sleeve.
In heraldry when shown as a smaller size than standard, it is a diminutive called a chevronel.
They are also used as road markings in some stretches of British and Canadian motorways, to help drivers gauge the distance in to the car in front.
The French automobile firm Citroën uses a logo commonly referred to as a pair of chevrons, though it originates in the shape of the teeth of special type of gears which that firm made prior to its entering the car business.
As a part of punctuation, chevrons (also known as guillemets or angle quotes) usually act as quotation marks, particularly in Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Examples would be ‹single quotes› and «double quotes».
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