Ornately embroidered patch with a white crane in the centre of a gold background, facing left towards a red sun.
Black and gold ornately embroidered patch with a golden Asian cat in the centre facing right towards a golden sun.

Front Panel of a Rank Badge for a First-Rank Civil Official: Crane, 1736-1795

Gold-wrapped silk and silk floss tapestry weave
Mactaggart Art CollectionUniversity of Alberta MuseumsGift of Sandy and Cécile Mactaggart2005.5.347.1

Front Panel of a Rank Badge for a Military Official, 1875-1908

Gold- and silver-wrapped silk thread embroidery
Mactaggart Art CollectionUniversity of Alberta MuseumsGift of Sandy and Cécile Mactaggart2005.5.559.1
Lowercase I in a black picture frame that links to this work of art on the UAlberta Museums Search Site.
Lowercase I in a black picture frame that links to this work of art on the UAlberta Museums Search Site.

Rank badges were insignia patterns found on the front and back of robes that were used to identify rank of civil and military officials during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There were nine ranks in both the civil and military official systems and different birds and animals were used to represent each rank. Bird motifs represented the rank status for the civil officials, while beast motifs represented the rank for military officials.

One of the rank badges included in this exhibition has a crane, which represents the first rank used for a civil official,while the other has a tiger, which represents the fourth rank used for a military official.

The Mactaggart Art Collection contains 136 individual rank badges from almost every civil and military rank.