First lieutenant (O-2)
A single silver bar is the insignia of a first lieutenant (1LT), pay grade O-2 in the US Army.
Easily confused with
- Warrant officer 1 (W-1)A silver bar with one black square is the insignia of a warrant officer 1 (WO1), pay grade W-1 in the US Army.
- Second lieutenant (O-1)A single gold bar is the insignia of a second lieutenant (2LT), pay grade O-1, the entry-level rank for most US Army officers.
- Captain (O-3)One silver bar or two.
- Lieutenant junior grade (O-2)Lieutenant (junior grade) is the second commissioned officer rank in the US Navy, pay grade O-2. On khakis the insignia is a single silver bar.
How to read it
DA Pamphlet 670-1 describes the first lieutenant insignia as one silver-colored bar, 3/8 inch wide and 1 inch long, with a smooth surface. The Second lieutenant (O-1) wears the same bar in gold, and a Captain (O-3) wears two silver bars. The Department of Defense lists the grade as O-2. The Army’s ranks page describes a first lieutenant as a seasoned lieutenant with 18 to 24 months of service, who leads more specialized weapons platoons and is often selected as executive officer of a company-sized unit.
Also searched as: 1LT, O-2 army.
Ranks and insignia as the US Army’s own regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Silver bar or gold bar?
Silver is the senior: a silver bar is a first lieutenant, a gold bar a Second lieutenant (O-1). The Army Institute of Heraldry dates the first lieutenant’s single bar to 1836, and the second lieutenant’s gold bar to December 1917.
A silver bar with black squares
A silver bar with black squares or a black line is a warrant officer’s insignia, from Warrant officer 1 (W-1) to Chief warrant officer 5 (W-5). DA Pamphlet 670-1 makes the warrant bars 1 1/8 inches long, against the lieutenant’s plain 1-inch bar.
How a lieutenant is addressed
As “Lieutenant”, in Army Regulation 600-20 and the Army Recruiting Command’s customs training.
More army ranks
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- DA Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, DA PAM 670-1, 26 January 2021, Headquarters, Department of the Army (Army Publishing Directorate), para 21–6a(6), 21–6a(5), 21–6a(4); para 21–6a(7), (11)
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Insignia chart: second-lieutenant, first-lieutenant, captain
- U.S. Army Ranks, army.mil ranks page (enlisted, warrant officer and officer ranks), U.S. Army, Officer ranks: First Lieutenant
- Army Regulation 600-20, Army Command Policy, AR 600-20, 6 February 2025 (administrative revision 20 February 2025), Headquarters, Department of the Army (copy hosted by the Army Transportation Corps, transportation.army.mil), para 1–7b; table 1–1
- Military Customs and Courtesies (Initial Soldier Training), U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Future Soldier training slides, 14 April 2020, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Officer rank, slide 16
- Officer Insignia of Rank: Origin, The Institute of Heraldry, U.S. Army heraldry, insignia of grade, The Institute of Heraldry, U.S. Army, Officer Insignia of Rank: Origin
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research