Sergeant (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.
How to read it
Between Corporal (E-4) (E-4) and staff sergeant (E-6), sergeant is the senior of the two noncommissioned officer grades, E-4 and E-5. It is the last rank without a rocker: from staff sergeant up, rockers are added under the rifles. A Marine Corps news headline puts the insignia in one line: three stripes up, crossed rifles in center. Sergeant is also the lowest rank from which the Marine Corps appoints warrant officers; the secretary of the Navy approves a warrant for a sergeant or a staff NCO.
Also searched as: E-5 marines, Sgt.
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 sergeant?
The Army’s sergeant is also E-5 and also wears three chevrons, with nothing beneath them. The crossed rifles are what mark the Marine version.
Read next
- Next in Marine Corps ranksStaff sergeant (E-6)Staff sergeant (SSgt) is the sixth enlisted rank in the US Marine Corps, pay grade E-6, and the first staff noncommissioned officer rank. Its insignia is three chevrons over crossed rifles over one rocker.
- 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; Warrant Officer
- Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Enlisted Rank Structure
- Three stripes up, crossed rifles in center: sergeants keep Corps tough, marines.mil news article 548963, United States Marine Corps, headline
- 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-5
- 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(9), p. 179
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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