Epaulette is a noun that refers to an ornamental shoulder piece on an item of clothing. 

Our word of the day comes fairly directly from the French word for ‘shoulder.’ In more recent years it has come to be used to refer figuratively to any kind of honor given. Example:

After my performance in the play, I received the most flattering epaulette of my acting career. The critic said, and I quote, “This actor wasn’t exactly good, but he was considerably less awful than the rest of the cast.”