Second lieutenant (O-1)
Second lieutenant (2ndLt) is the first Marine Corps commissioned officer rank, pay grade O-1. Its insignia is a single gold bar.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Second lieutenant is the lowest of the company grade officers, O-1 to O-3, and comes before first lieutenant (O-2). Marine officers hold a commission issued in the name of the president; the Department of Defense adds that commissioned officers are confirmed at their ranks by the Senate. Military.com gives the nickname butterbar, from the single gold bar.
Also searched as: 2ndLt, O-1 marines.
Ranks and insignia as the Marine Corps’ own orders and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Gold bar or silver bar?
The gold bar is the lower rank. The first lieutenant’s bar is the same shape in silver. A gold bar with scarlet blocks across it is a warrant officer or chief warrant officer 2.
In the field
Marine uniform regulations allow subdued insignia on field uniforms, where the second lieutenant’s gold bar becomes drab brown and silver insignia become flat black.
More marine Corps ranks
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Marine Corps Ranks, marines.mil, Ranks, United States Marine Corps, Officer
- Marine Corps Uniform Regulations (MCO 1020.34H), MCO 1020.34H, 1 May 2018, Commandant of the Marine Corps, para 4005.2.i–j, 4005.3.a, p. 1-99 to 1-100
- Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Officer 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), Officer insignia, O-1
- Marine Corps Ranks: A Complete Guide to Enlisted and Officer Ranks, Military.com, Marine Corps ranks, Military.com, Second Lieutenant (2LT) (O-1)
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research