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. It sits above Lieutenant junior grade (O-2) and below 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.
More navy ranks
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
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research