Lieutenant (O-3)
Lieutenant is the third commissioned officer rank in the US Navy, pay grade O-3. On khakis the insignia is two silver bars joined side by side.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The uniform regulations describe two silver bars attached near the ends; on the blue coat sleeve a lieutenant wears two 13 mm (½ in) gold stripes. The grade below is Lieutenant junior grade (O-2) and the grade above Lieutenant commander (O-4). Navy.com says lieutenants often lead divisions, manage operations and mentor junior officers.
Also searched as: LT, navy lieutenant.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
A Navy lieutenant wears an Army captain’s bars
The same two silver bars are an Army captain’s insignia, and federal pay law puts both in pay grade O-3. The Naval History and Heritage Command dates the joined “railroad tracks” to the metal pin-on insignia officers took up around the Spanish-American War. A Navy Captain (O-6) is a different rank altogether, O-6.
Read next
- Next in Navy ranksLieutenant commander (O-4)Lieutenant commander is a US Navy commissioned officer rank, pay grade O-4. On khakis the insignia is a gold oak leaf.
- The same shape in Music symbolsEighth restAn eighth rest is a slanted stroke with a small hook turned to the left at its top. It marks a silence as long as an eighth note. In Britain it is called a quaver rest.
More navy ranks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- 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; officer introduction
- 37 U.S.C. § 201: Pay grades, 37 U.S. Code § 201, Pay grades: assignment to; general rules, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, § 201(a); § 201(a)
- Navy Uniform Regulations, article 4101: Officer sleeve insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), art. 4101, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4101.3a
- Navy Uniform Regulations, article 4103: Shoulder insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), art. 4103, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4103.2c, 4103.4a
- U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia, U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia (navy.com), U.S. Navy Recruiting Command (navy.com), Commissioned Officer Ranks
- Naval Traditions: Names of Rank, “Lieutenant”, Naval Traditions: Names of Rank, Officer, “Lieutenant”, Naval History and Heritage Command, para. 3
- Naval Traditions: Names of Rank, “Captain”, Naval Traditions: Names of Rank, Officer, “Captain”, Naval History and Heritage Command, para. 3
- Navy Uniform Regulations, article 4104: Collar grade insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), art. 4104, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4104.2–3
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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