[TNG: Season 4: Future Imperfect] and [TNG: Season 7: Parallels]
Thanks to Spike's Star Trek Page for the representations of uniforms and rank insignia on this page. Screenshots (all from [#TNG: Season 4: Future Imperfect]) and text by Janet. Optimum page viewing.
The scenario experienced by Cmdr. Riker in this [TNG] Season 4 story, set in 2367, turns out to be a virtual fantasy, one conceived and created by an alien called Barash. In the fantasy scenario, Riker wakes up to discover that 16 years have passed, apparently, and he is no longer the first officer but the captain of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. As the events in this episode are not even an unrealised future timeline, the different insignia has never formed part of Starfleet's designs in this universe, but it has done so in a parallel universe seen in [TNG: Season 7: Parallels].
PAGE CONTENTS
uniforms, rank and insignia
UNIFORMS
command, conn; also worn in standard departmental colours as applicable
In Barash's conjured up fantasy, Starfleet uniforms have essentially the same style as in reality, which is the year 2367. But the design of the Starfleet insignia and combined communicator pin is rather different. Barash conjures up a different look for the Federation, of which the Starfleet pin is just one aspect (see below). (Another is a Ferengi at the conn of a Federation starship, anticipating the Ferengi Nog being, not just a Starfleet officer, but a Starfleet captain, albeit in an unrealised timeline, in [DS9: Season 4: The Visitor].) For information about this uniform, see pages in this section: 2366-73: Uniforms.
admiral
(There is a moment early on in the fantasy scenario when Dr Crusher puts her hand on Riker's chest, right on his combadge. That it does not activate would seem to indicate that it is no longer a communicator pin. In reality she does not need to say the words to complete the activation of a comm channel, although, for reasons explained in STTNG Tech (belatedly, to answer fans queries about what look like bloopers), it is not actually necessary to tap any combadge while aboard ship.)
In [TNG: Season 7: Parallels], due to a quantum fissure where many universes intersect, Worf encounters seven alternative realities and he and the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D crew glimpse thousands of parallel realities. (I might do screenshots from [TNG: Parallels] if I ever take DVD screenshots, as I seem to have that episode, one of my favourites, only on DVD. The following are from [TNG: Future Imperfect].)
note the different Starfleet emblem; the number of horizontal bars indicate Riker is a captain
the uniform style has not 'changed' in the last apparent 16 years; command and conn personnel still wear red; blue is still the division colour for science and medicine; Dr Crusher still tends to wear a blue lab coat over her uniform
Klingon ensign; yellow is still the division colour for security and engineering
back of the Klingon ensign's uniform, and the fronts of Crusher's and Riker's
close-up of the top part of a science/medical uniform; the number of horizontal bars on Crusher's combined Starfleet emblem and rank pin denote she is a Lt. Cmdr.
the Ferengi conn officer's Starfleet emblem, with its one bar, denotes he is an ensign
left of picture: admiral's uniform
admiral's uniform: detail of shoulder marking seen from the side
admiral's uniform: close-up view of front; note the Starfleet emblem/rank pin
admiral's uniform: rear view
full frontal views of three uniforms
the Starfleet Command emblem has not changed
RANK INSIGNIA
In [TNG: Future Imperfect] a major difference to the uniform is that the Starfleet emblem now denotes rank, dependent on the number and style of the horizontal bar(s) on which the delta symbol rests. In [TNG: Parallels] the same rank pins are worn, but also with rank pips.
