Royal Navy uniforms of the 18th and 19th centuries

Royal Navy ranks, rates, and uniforms of the 18th and 19th centuries were the original effort of the Royal Navy to create standardized rank and insignia system for use both at shore and at sea.

Prior to the 1740s, Royal Navy officers and sailors had no established uniforms, although many of the officer class typically wore upper class clothing with wigs to denote their social status. The early Royal Navy also had only three clearly established shipboard ranks: captain, lieutenant, and master. This simplicity of rank had its origins in the Middle Ages, where a military company embarked on ship (led by a captain and a lieutenant) operated independently from the handling of the vessel, which was overseen by the ship's master.

Over time, the nautical command structure merged these two separate command chains into a single entity with captain and lieutenant as commissioned officer ranks while sailing master (often shortened to simply "master") was seen as a type of warrant officer position. In 1758, the rank of midshipman was introduced, which was a type of officer candidate position. The rank of "master and commander" (completely separate from the rank of master) first appeared in the 1760s and was temporarily issued to lieutenants in command of vessels, but without a captain's commission. By the 1790s, the rank of master and commander was routinely shortened to simply "commander".

Uniform regulations for naval officers were first issued by Lord Anson in 1748, this was in response to the naval officer corps wishing for an established uniform pertaining to their service. Officer uniforms were at first divided into a "best uniform", consisting of an embroidered blue coat with white facings worn unbuttoned with white breeches and , as well as a "working rig" which was a simpler, less embroidered uniform for day-to-day use.

In 1767 the terms "dress" and "undress" uniform had been adopted and, by 1795, epaulettes were officially introduced. The epaulette style uniforms and insignia endured slight modifications and expansions until a final version appeared in 1846. In 1856 Royal Navy officer insignia shifted to the use of rank sleeve stripes – a pattern which has endured to the present day.

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