South African Defence Force ranks were based closely on those used by the British Army and the Union Defence Force before South Africa left the British Empire. When the nation replaced the crown as a symbol, the new rank insignia adopted a five pointed star in place of the British pip, and a pentagonal device in place of the crown. Today we are looking at a set of rank slides from the 1980s SADF: 

The slides are made of a thick nylon fabric, whilst the insignia itself is made of gold coloured rubber moulded directly to the slide itself. The first set of insignia is that worn by the standard SADF on a nutria brown fabric and here we can see the rank of a Second Lieutenant and a Major: 

Note that the centre of each badge has the coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa moulded into it. The other rank slides are those used by the medical services which are produced in a cherry red colour. Here we have a Second Lieutenant and a Colonel: 

In this 1980s photograph, the rank badges of SADF doctors are clearly visible: 

Here the full range of SADF ranks can be seen, their similarity to the British system being very obvious: