Corporal (E-4)
Corporal (Cpl) is the fourth enlisted rank in the US Marine Corps, pay grade E-4, and the first noncommissioned officer rank. Its insignia is two chevrons above crossed rifles.
How to read it
Corporal follows lance corporal (E-3) and comes before Sergeant (E-5) (E-5). The Marine Corps counts pay grades E-4 and E-5 as noncommissioned officers (NCOs), and says NCOs and staff NCOs together are responsible to the commanding officer for the welfare, morale, discipline and efficiency of the Marines in their charge. The Department of Defense makes the same comparison across services: an Army sergeant, an Air Force staff sergeant and a Marine corporal are all NCO ranks.
Also searched as: Cpl, E-4 marines.
Ranks and insignia as the Marine Corps’ own orders and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Marine or Army corporal?
The Army’s corporal insignia is two chevrons with nothing beneath them; the Marine corporal adds crossed rifles. The Army also has a second E-4 rank, specialist, which ranks below its corporal. The Marine Corps has only the corporal at E-4.
Read next
- Next in Marine Corps ranksSergeant (E-5)Sergeant (Sgt) is the fifth enlisted rank in the US Marine Corps, pay grade E-5. Its insignia is three chevrons above crossed rifles.
- The same shape in European flagsFlag of GreeceGreece’s flag is nine horizontal stripes, five blue and four white, with a white cross on a blue square in the top corner by the pole. Law 851/1978 fixes the design but gives it no meaning; readings of the nine stripes, such as the nine syllables of “Freedom or Death”, are popular tradition.
More marine Corps ranks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with crosses or lines.
Sources
- Marine Corps Ranks, marines.mil, Ranks, United States Marine Corps, Enlisted
- Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Enlisted Rank Structure
- 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 insignia, E-4 and NCO ranks
- 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 21-7a(10), p. 180
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 29, 2026. How we research
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