Genericon

Genericons are a Decepticon sub-faction from the IDW continuity portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

You can tell by the shape and size of their badges.

Genericons are Decepticon cannon fodder used on the frontlines, distinguished from regular Decepticon soldiers by a color variance in their faction symbols: they have yet to go through the Rite of the Deceptibrand and get their proper badges. The name is a derogatory term coined by the Autobots but adopted by the Decepticons as well.

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Two Genericons named Sonic and Boom were hired by Pharma to infiltrate the Autobot medical facility of Delphi by claiming to be members of the Militant Monoform Movement on the run from the Decepticon Justice Division. Professing they were suffering from pain as a result of a branched spark that proximity to one another would lessen, the pair ensured they were placed in the same cell, where they were able to combine into their alternate mode as a sonic weapon and unleash a blast of weaponized sound formulated by Pharma that caused any Cybertronian who heard it to begin corroding from within. The sonic infection swept the facility, but when Ratchet, Drift, and Pipes arrived to investigate, Pharma freed the Genericons and ordered them to kill them. Unfortunately for Sonic and Boom, First Aid chose this moment to successfully reawaken Fortress Maximus from a years-long coma, and the fighting-mad Autobot proceeded to brutally murder the two Decepticons. Life After the Big Bang How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

Kaon derisively referred to Krok as a Genericon while restraining him for torture at the hands—or rather, face—of Vos. Who's Afraid of the DJD?

Crankcase still remembered the rush of being at Camp Conclave to swap his "learner plates" for a real Decepticon badge, with Megatron himself giving him it. Journey's End