Introducing project “Military Insignia”, featuring top quality military heraldry designs. Here you will find designer apparel, accessories, custom postage and gifts decorated with rank insignia of a Sergeant Major (SGM). Sergeants Major is a senior noncommissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In the United States, there are various degrees of Sergeant Major (Command Sergeant Major (CSM), Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA)), but they are all of the same pay grade. The first official U.S. use of the term was in 1776, when a sergeant major was appointed to the headquarters of each infantry battalion of the Continental Army. The rank was in use by both the Union Army and the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. At that time, it was the highest enlisted rank, being just above Quartermaster Sergeant. The same rank insignia was used by both armies. Both armies varied the colour of the stripes by assigning red for artillery, yellow for cavalry, and blue for infantry. Some Confederate militia units varied these colours even farther and had other colours including black stripes for various units. In 1920 with the standardization of the army's enlisted pay grades, it ceased to be a title of rank or grade. However, it survived as the job title of the senior NCO of a battalion and was re-introduced as a rank in 1958 when Congress authorized the E-8 and E-9 pay grades. The appointment of Sergeant Major of the Army was created on July 4, 1966. Command Sergeant Major got separate insignia in 1968. In the Army, Sergeant Major refers to both a military rank and a specific administrative position. The rank refers to the highest enlisted rank, just above First Sergeant and Master Sergeant, with a pay grade of E-9, NATO rank OR-9. A SGM or CSM is referred to, and addressed, as "Sergeant Major". The Sergeant Major of the Army is a separate and unique position.