Chevron

Chevron, an arrangement of two lines or bars inclined to each other at a similar angle to that of the rafters in a roof, whence the name, from the Latin capreolis. In Architecture the word denotes a zigzag moulding of the Norman and Transition periods. In Heraldry it denotes a device of this form upon a shield, a similar device with narrower bars being called a chevronel, or the expression per chevron being used when the space between the bars is filled up. The word is familiar as denoting the marks of rank upon the arm of a non-commissioned officer of the army or navy, varying in the former from the four chevrons or stripes of the sergeant-major or staff-sergeant, to the single stripe of the lance-corporal.