Its a common belief but no it goes back further, heres a bit of info
Titanic Engineers

5 Bars

I heard months back that Qantas were to give their Skippers on the A380 five bars!!!!!!!!! :uhoh:

Thanks 'Smudge' for the link.

Very interesting article on the final minutes of the Titanic, and putting right a commonly help belief!

"Whilst we're strolling down the TAA memories lane, let's not forget two and a half bars, First Officers in command of a single pilot aircraft less than 5700 Kg / 12,500 Lb, Twin Otter, Dove etc......"

Yes I used to wear a pair flying the Twotter in TPNG back in 66. Who said that I had Alzeimers...............:D

Counting stripes is simple... is it...?
 

Stripes -
2 stripes are more than 1... 3 are more than 2, and 4 are more than 3 stripes.
So... what is the question...? All airlines have different policies.
xxx
The origin of stripes (and ranks) goes back to merchant marine uniforms.
As an example, PanAm wore uniforms easy to confuse with US Navy uniforms.
4 stripes for captains (or first officers qualified with captain type rating).
3 stripes for first officers. 2 stripes for second officers (cruise co-pilots).
Flight engineers had 3 stripes, two "wide" stripes and a narrow stripe.
Various combinations - and policies did change too.
xxx
I personally called "captain" any pilot with 4 stripes.
Some chief pilots or check captains had a "star" above their 4 stripes.
xxx
Ranks are never a problem, EXCEPT when operating at remote locations.
If you try (say as 2 striper) to get assistance on ramp from a local agent with 3 stripes.
Some areas (Africa-Asia-So.America) had that problem. They ignored your requests.
So a good idea was to send your F/E around the plane on ramp and him borrow your 4 stripes.
Was the only way to get the attention from some of these rampers.
xxx
In some nations, "basic training" of airline staff is "you have more stripes, so you are the top guy"...!
xxx
:rolleyes:
Happy contrails

In the military the rank structure sometimes has little to do with the command structure on the flight deck, this can lead to amusing situations at times such as once when I was a two striper in the Airforce rank structure but also the aircraft Captain, my F/O was a squadron leader with two and a half stripes and my 'second officer' was a wing commander, three stripes.

We pulled ap at Singapore/Changhi in a B707 and after shutdown the local handling agent came to the flight deck with some 'official' paperwork to be signed and looked around at all the stripes and picked the wing commander, who had the most, and handed him the paperwork. He said he wasn't the Captain so the squadron leader was handed the papers, he also said he wasn't the Captain so I as the Captain, with the least number of stripes, eventually got to autograph the paperwork.

Regards,
BH.

In the USA, generally:

4 stripes = Captain

3 stripes = First Officer (copilot)

3 stripes = pilot-rated Flight Engineer(second officer).... (some places: P.F.E's also)

2 stripes = non-pilot Flight Engineer (PFE) ....(& some places: Mechanics also)

1 stripe = non-cockpit types - loadmaster/mechanic/F.A., etc (rare)

Good one BelArg. I liked the ramp handling thing. But I have seen 3 and 4 bars silver then what's that?

AvEnthusiast -
xxx
Yes, try to get an external power unit to your airplane, if you have 2 stripes.
And the guy you request it from has 3 stripes and only speaks Urdu or Pushtu.
Worse, his AK-47 is bigger than your 2 D-Cell flashlight... Happy Ariana...!
xxx
Reminds me of a situation in Karachi in the 1970s...
Guards were instructed that only valid ID for ramp access were with red background picture.
They could not read, only recognize an ID picture color background...
xxx
Or try to take picture with your camera of your landing gear tyre damage.
Just trying to join a picture to your report.
You might be a spy, and attempt to picture that Antonov AN-2 nearby.
xxx
Silver or gold...?
Well, some airlines use gold stripes, some do silver.
Airline uniforms come in many colors, navy blue... black... what else...?
I recall a USA cargo airline - Evergreen - using black uniform stripes...!
When I flew cargo, inside the plane, my uniform was blue jeans and T-shirt...
xxx
:suspect:
Happy contrails

Silver, Gold, Platinum... even Blue! Different airlines... different colours.

BelArg. you really made me laugh today. It seems you have first hand experience of the so called areas. Stay safe.

Thanks for all your reactions guys!
Good response!

Wasn't there Debonair in the UK with designer grey uniforms????

TUI uses silver stripes....

yeahhhh
 

amazing..mw dream use it..hahahaha