What do the stripes on the shoulders mean on a pilot?

Answer 1

Airline pilots wear stripes on the sleeves or also on the epaulets on top of their shoulders. Here are the meaning of the stripes.

1 stripe....normally not used (certain airlines/companies may use usually trainee or a seniority indicator)

2 stripes....Flight engineer and/or second officer

3 stripes....First officer (co-pilot/2nd in command)

4 stripes.....Captain (Pilot in Command)

WW2 German Luftwaffee

Assuming you refer to WW2 German Luftwaffe, the flight crew wore white stripes on their Upper Sleeves instead of the normal epaulet rank. This simple rank was better for use on coveralls that allowed them to wear their parachute. The stripes were in the shape of wings. One stripe was a low ranking Sergeant. Officers had the "wing" stripes over a horizontal bar.

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