The characters would look like an arlequin by the end of the game.

Maybe guilds like the Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild should indeed have insignias - but very discrete. Like a tattoo or a ring, maybe a belt?

Unless you do it for sheer psychological terror.

Imagine your some poor gate-guard, you hate your job, the pay kinda svcks and there are no health benefits. As you are watching the road you see a figure dressed in black robes and flaunting the insignia of an organization you've only heard about, and all you've heard is pure death. The chill in the air would be unimaginable...

which gives me a though for Radiant AI.

Such titles and insignia flaunting would have far more effect on the poor gate guard than say the seasoned captain of the guard. Titles would be used for influence and intimidation.

How about visible rank insignia awarded to guild/clan members that could be attached to any cloth or armor and visible when that cloth or armor is worn.

Each guild or clan could have a set of distinct insignia that would be different from other guilds.clans and would award their members of higher ranks to show their distinction from oether members.

Low level could have no insignia or a common insignia for the guild/clan that would identify the owner as a low rank member of the guild/clan.

Thus you could know the guild/clan of an NPC and his/her rank in that guild/clan in a glance if you knew the meaning of that insignia, and there could be books on the subject for each guild/clan.

Of course, some guild/clans would not want to reveal their identity, so they would not have such visible marks on their members, but others would have them and wear them with pride.

As for player characters, whenever you reached a significant rank in a guild or clan you could be awarded with such an insignia that you could attach to any cloth or armor and it would show on the specific place of that cloth or armor.

You could remove that insignia any time you liked and attach it to another armor, and if you sell the armor with attached insignia to a vendor, the insignia would be automatically removed from the armor and added to your inventory, ready to be attached to another armor.

In some more formal/strict guilds/clans, when attending official guild/clan gathering or private meetings, you should wear your insignia in order to be able to join the others, or in order to avoid chiding from other members, kinda like the imperial legion in Morrowind.

When you advance in rank in a guild, you are told to give in your old insignia, and a new one is given to you, and if you are expelled from a guild, your insignia is taken from you.

All in all, it can be a mark of distinction in the world of Nirn, and should be worn with pride, and in some quests could be checked to result in a specific branch of the quest line different from whether you had not worn your specific insignia.

So what is your opinions on this matter?

Edit: here are http://www.williamscully.ca/gallery2/d/12525-2/WSL_rank_insignia.jpg http://historyscoop.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/army-insignia.jpg that I dag out of the internet.

Black Ops Emblem system?

Assuming there's a fair number of equipment slots, with some layering, I'd like to see different guilds give out specific clothing items that show membership and rank. I was thinking something like this:

Mercenary companies and knightly orders have tarbards and surcoats, to be worn over armor.

Illegal guilds, like thieves and assassins, have something more subtle, like rings or amulets

Mage and religious groups would have things that look good worn with robes, like hoods, shoulder capes, or scapulars.

I think that idea would kinda be like playing Dark Age of Camelot (PC game) but i do like the idea of having your rank shown to members of your guild so they are impressed if your a high rank or laugh and taunt you if a lesser rank.

Assuming there's a fair number of equipment slots, with some layering, I'd like to see different guilds give out specific clothing items that show membership and rank. I was thinking something like this:

Mercenary companies and knightly orders have tarbards and surcoats, to be worn over armor.

Illegal guilds, like thieves and assassins, have something more subtle, like rings or amulets

Mage and religious groups would have things that look good worn with robes, like hoods, shoulder capes, or scapulars.

that sounds like a pretty cool idea maybe they'll do that. *fingers crossed*