Marine Corps ranks
Every US Marine Corps rank insignia, enlisted, warrant officer and officer, in order, with its pay grade.
Test yourself: Marine Corps ranks quiz
Enlisted 11 symbols
Warrant officers 5 symbols
Officers 10 symbols
Ranks by pay grade, branch by branch
A pay grade and a rank differ. The pay grade is a letter and a number (E for enlisted, W for warrant officer, O for officer) set by law, 37 U.S.C. § 201; it fixes basic pay and is the same in every service. The rank is the title and insignia each service gives that grade, so an E-5 is a sergeant in the Army and Marine Corps, a petty officer second class in the Navy and a staff sergeant in the Air Force. Some grades hold two ranks: an Army E-4 is a specialist or a corporal.
- Each service’s senior enlisted adviser is an E-9 in a post of their own, senior to every other enlisted member of that service: Sergeant major of the Army (SMA); Sergeant major of the Marine Corps (SMMC); Master chief petty officer of the Navy (MCPON); Chief master sergeant of the Air Force (CMSAF).
- In the Air Force, command chief master sergeant is a position held by an E-9, and first sergeant is a duty for an E-7, E-8 or E-9 (a diamond on the chevron), not a rank: Command chief master sergeant (CCM).
- The Navy brought back W-1 in 2018, for cyber warrant officers only; it had used no W-1 since 1975.
- The Air Force re-established warrant officers in 2024, for cyber and IT fields only; the first graduated in December 2024.
- Five-star ranks (General of the Army, Fleet Admiral, General of the Air Force) are reserved for wartime and none is held today. The Space Force has no warrant officers.
About marine Corps ranks
US Marine Corps ranks run from private (E-1) to general (O-10): enlisted Marines from E-1 to E-9, warrant officers from W-1 to W-5 and commissioned officers from O-1 to O-10. The Marine Corps calls E-4 and E-5 non-commissioned officers and E-6 to E-9 staff NCOs. It has no five-star rank: the Defense Department’s chart gives the Marine Corps N/A at that level, and its commandant and assistant commandant hold four-star ranks.
The private wears no insignia
A Marine private (E-1) has no rank insignia; the Navy’s officer training guide lists the private’s insignia as “None”. The private first class (E-2) wears one stripe. The same single chevron is an Army private (E-2), and the Army’s private first class is an E-3.
Crossed rifles and rockers
From lance corporal to master sergeant, Marine chevrons have crossed rifles beneath the stripes: one stripe for lance corporal, two for corporal, three for sergeant. Staff NCOs add rockers under the rifles, one for staff sergeant, two for gunnery sergeant and three for master sergeant. The first sergeant has a diamond where the rifles would be, over three rockers. At E-9 there are four rockers, under a bursting bomb for the master gunnery sergeant and a star for the sergeant major. Army insignia have no rifles, and the Army’s sergeants major have three arcs.
Two ranks at E-8 and E-9
Each of the top two pay grades holds two ranks. First sergeants and sergeants major are senior enlisted advisers to a commanding officer; master sergeants and master gunnery sergeants provide technical leadership in their specialty. At E-9 the sergeant major has the higher rank, the Defense Department says, though both receive the same pay.
Warrant officers
Marine warrant officers wear a gold or silver bar with scarlet enamel. The Marine Corps Uniform Regulations count the scarlet blocks: two on the gold bar of a warrant officer, three on a CWO2’s, two and three on the silver bars of CWO3 and CWO4. The Navy’s officer training guide describes the same devices as a red background with one or two gold or silver breaks, counting the metal between the blocks. A CWO5 has one scarlet stripe along a silver bar. A chief warrant officer serving as an infantry weapons officer is a Marine Gunner and wears a bursting bomb on the left collar in place of the warrant insignia.
Sources
- Marine Corps Ranks, marines.mil, Ranks, United States Marine Corps, Enlisted, warrant officer and officer ranks
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Enlisted and officer tables
- Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps rank insignia table
- 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 21–7
- Marine Corps Uniform Regulations (MCO 1020.34H), MCO 1020.34H, 1 May 2018, Commandant of the Marine Corps, para 4005.2.k–o
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 29, 2026. How we research