Lieutenant junior grade (O-2)
Lieutenant (junior grade) is the second commissioned officer rank in the US Navy, pay grade O-2. On khakis the insignia is a single silver bar.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The uniform regulations give a lieutenant (junior grade) one silver bar lying lengthwise on the shoulder strap, and the same on the collar, and on the sleeve one 13 mm (½ in) gold stripe with a 6 mm (¼ in) stripe above it. It sits above Ensign (O-1) (one gold bar) and below Lieutenant (O-3) (two silver bars). Navy.com says officers at this rank take on greater operational responsibility.
Also searched as: LTJG, O-2 navy.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Same bar, other services
One silver bar is an Army first lieutenant too, the same O-2 pay grade under federal pay law.
Where the rank came from
The Naval History and Heritage Command traces it to the old rank of master: the title became lieutenant, junior grade, in 1883, and the gold bar masters wore became silver in 1877.
Read next
- Next in Navy ranksLieutenant (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.
- The same shape in P&ID symbolsHeat exchangerA heat exchanger, which passes heat from one fluid to another without mixing them. It is drawn as a circle crossed by a zigzag line.
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)
- 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, paras. 4–5; para. 6
- 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 29, 2026. How we research
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