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.
Easily confused with
How to read it
DA Pamphlet 670-1 describes the second lieutenant insignia as one gold-colored bar, 3/8 inch wide and 1 inch long, with a smooth surface. The First lieutenant (O-2) wears the same bar in silver. The Department of Defense lists the grade as O-1, the first of the three company grade officer ranks. The Army’s ranks page calls it typically the entry-level rank for most commissioned officers, leading platoon-size elements of 16 to 44 soldiers with a platoon sergeant.
Also searched as: 2LT, butter bar, O-1 army.
Ranks and insignia as the US Army’s own regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Gold bar or silver bar?
Gold is the junior of the two: a gold bar is a second lieutenant and a silver bar a First lieutenant (O-2). The Army Institute of Heraldry dates the first lieutenant’s single bar to 1836; second lieutenants did not receive the gold bar until December 1917. On why bars and leaves were chosen at all, the Institute says nothing has been found beyond the dates they were authorized.
How a lieutenant is addressed
As “Lieutenant”, for second and first lieutenants alike, in Army Regulation 600-20 and the Army Recruiting Command’s customs training.
More army ranks
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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(7), 21–6a(6), 21–6a(5)
- 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: chief-warrant-officer-5, second-lieutenant, first-lieutenant; Officer insignia
- U.S. Army Ranks, army.mil ranks page (enlisted, warrant officer and officer ranks), U.S. Army, Officer ranks: Second 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