The ranks of the Swiss Armed Forces have changed little over the centuries, except for the introduction, in 2004, of a new set of senior NCO's known as warrant officers in international deployments. The ranks are worn on shoulder boards with the appropriate background colour. Designations are given in the four national languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh), with an English translation which is used during overseas missions.
Higher staff officers wear black lampasses on the outside seam of dress uniform trousers.