Officer Rank Insignia

[seadog]

Can anyone tell me what the generic term would be for the “senior” of the officer rank insignia? We talk about “pips” for the “junior” star (in South Africa we had the British 4 pointed star then the 5 pointed star and now the small nine pointed star), but what about the “senior” (started with the crown then castle then the large nine pointed star and now the “Bird” from the CoA). Most commonwealth countries have similar format but different insignia.

[Traist]

It was called a "castle" when I was in the army (1980's). No idea what it is called now. Andrew