Different badges/symbols in COD4?

Question

I've just started the game and I see many people online and it says their levels near their name, but how come I see people with different symbols? e.g Lvl 10's/55's have different symbols near their level. Like

I see some lvl 55's with a golden cross, but some with 5 stars.

Answer 1

well once you lv up to 55 you can chose to do it all again 10 times every time you do it you will get a different badge the very last one is the gold cross

Answer 2

Those are called prestige badges. When you start out you go through the normal army ranks, but when you get to level 55 (5 stars) you have a choice to go prestige, repeating the whole step again, including weapons just so you can have a cool little symbol. There a 10 different prestige levels and the golden cross is the highest one with the pentagon with a eagle on it is the first prestige level. Some people stay at level 55 (5 starts) because they have unlocked a lot of the achievements and weapons and don't want to do it again, and each prestige level has a different symbol