Lieutenant
Lieutenant is a
military,
paramilitary,
fire service or
police officer rank.
The word
lieutenant derives from
French; the
lieu meaning "place" as in a position; and
tenant meaning "holding" as in "holding a position"; thus a "lieutenant" is somebody who holds a position in the absence of his superior (compare the cognate Latin
locum tenens). The
Arabic word for lieutenant,
mulāzim (), also means "holding a place".
The
British monarch's representative in
Ireland and in the counties of the
United Kingdom was/is called the
Lord-Lieutenant. In
French history, "lieutenant du roi" was a title borne by the officer sent with military powers to represent the king in certain provinces. It is in the sense of a deputy that it has entered into the titles of more senior officers,
Lieutenant General and
Lieutenant Colonel.
In the nineteenth century those British writers who either considered this word an imposition on the English language or difficult for common soldiers and sailors argued for it to be replaced by the
calque "steadholder" but failed and the French word is still used as well as its
Lieutenant-Colonel variation in both the Old and the
New World.
In English the word is pronounced , except in
American English in which it is pronounced . However, the
Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies traditionally pronounced the word as , though increasing usage of the first pronunciation has all but extinguished this version. The American pronunciation was originally the same as the British
[H.L. Mencken, The American Language, 1921], but by the end of the 19th century had almost completely been replaced by the current pronunciation.
In Canada and New Zealand is standard for all branches of the Armed Forces and for other usages such as
lieutenant governor or
Quebec lieutenant. Australia follows the British system, with the
Royal Australian Navy officially using the pronunciation.
The English pronunciation was prevalent during the 14th and 15th centuries with the word being variously spelled as
lieftenant,
lyeftenant or
luftenant. It may have originated from a mistaken reading of the 'u' as a 'v' (
u and
v originally were written as the same letter), with
v eventually assimilating in
voice to . Some sources state that the original French word
lieu had an alternative form spelt and pronounced
lieuf, and that the modern standard English form retains the former spelling 'Lieutenant' and the latter pronunciation, 'Leftenant'.
It has also been speculated that it may have come from a fanciful etymology which associated it with the verb 'to leave', as the lieutenant only took up his duties once his superior officer had 'left'.
Another theory comes from the fact that in typical propriety the person or persons standing to the rear-left of a gentleman held power and were typically those directly second to him. The person or persons standing to the rear-right were considered to have no or less standing than those to the rear-left, such as aides, bodyguards, wives, etc., often holding this position for simple facility rather than societal importance. This tradition remains in
military parades, with lieutenants standing to the rear-left of the commanding officer (when facing the advance).
Conventionally,
armies and other services or branches which use army-style rank titles (e.g.
air forces,
marine corps etc.) have two grades of Lieutenant. Some countries, however, use three. The
Royal Air Force and some other
Commonwealth air forces use a different rank system. Some marine corps use naval ranks.
Lieutenant/First Lieutenant
The senior grade of Lieutenant is known as Lieutenant in the
United Kingdom and other
English-speaking Commonwealth countries and as First Lieutenant in the
United States. In countries which do not speak English, the rank title usually translates as "Lieutenant", but may also translate as "First Lieutenant" or "Senior Lieutenant".
The Lieutenant was once the second officer in an
infantry company or
cavalry troop. The
Captain was the company or troop commander and the third officer had a variety of titles, hence the difference in modern day rank titles. Some countries used First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant for the two junior officers; some used Lieutenant and Senior Lieutenant; some used Lieutenant and Sub-Lieutenant; some (such as Britain) used Lieutenant and
Ensign (infantry) or
Cornet (cavalry). When the latter ranks were changed to Second Lieutenant, the senior rank remained as Lieutenant.
In actual fact, some parts of the
British Army, including the
Royal Artillery,
Royal Engineers, and
fusilier regiments, did use First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant until the end of the 19th century.
A Lieutenant usually commands a
platoon or similar unit.
In the Royal Air Force and some other Commonwealth air forces, the equivalent rank is
Flying Officer.
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant is usually the most junior grade of commissioned officer. In most cases, newly commissioned officers do not remain at the rank for long before being promoted. Officers commissioned from the ranks may miss out the rank altogether. The rank is used throughout the English-speaking world. In non-English-speaking countries, the equivalent rank title may translate as "Second Lieutenant", "Lieutenant", "Sub-Lieutenant", "Junior Lieutenant" or "Ensign".
A Second Lieutenant usually also commands a platoon.
In the Royal Air Force and some other Commonwealth air forces, the equivalent rank is
Pilot Officer.
Third Lieutenant
Most countries do not maintain a third rank of Lieutenant. Those that do are all non-English-speaking, so the term "Third Lieutenant" is not actually used. The rank title may actually translate as "Second Lieutenant", "Junior Lieutenant", "Sub-Lieutenant" or "Ensign".
The
Soviet Union used three ranks of Lieutenant, and so all
Warsaw Pact countries also standardised their ranking system with three ranks. Some of the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations have now discarded the third rank, however.
Countries with Third Lieutenant equivalent ranks include:
*
Afghanistan:
Dreyom Baridman*
Argentina:
Subteniente (army);
Alférez (air force)
*
Armenia: կրտոեր լեյտենանտ (
Krtoyr Leytenant)
*
Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan:
Kiçik Leytenant*
Cape Verde and
Guinea-Bissau:
Subtenente*
Chile,
Peru,
Paraguay and
Uruguay:
Alférez*
Cuba:
Subteniente*
Czech Republic and
Czechoslovakia:
Podporučík*
Estonia:
Lipnik*
Georgia: უმცროსი ლ"იტ"ნანტი (
Umts'rosi Leytenanti)
*
East Germany:
Unterleutnant (Warsaw Pact)
*
Hungary:
Alhadnagy (Warsaw Pact; no longer used)
*
Iran:
Setvan Sevom*
Nicaragua:
Teniente Segundo*
Poland:
Chorąży (Warsaw Pact; no longer used for an officer rank; now a
Warrant Officer rank)
*
Romania:
Sublocotenent (Warsaw Pact; now equivalent to Second Lieutenant)
*
Russia,
Belarus,
Bulgaria,
Kazakhstan and
Soviet Union: Младши Лейтенант (
Mladshiy Leytenant)
*
Russian Empire: Прапорщик (
Praporshchik)
*
Taiwan:
Wei*
Turkey:
Asteğmen*
Ukraine: Молодший Лейтенант (
Molodshiyy Leytenant)
Throughout the
19th Century, the
United States Army sometimes referred to
Brevet Second Lieutenants as "Third Lieutenants." These were typically newly commissioned officers for which no authorized Second Lieutenant position existed. Additionally, the
Confederate States Army also used Third Lieutenants, typically as the lowest ranking commissioned officer in an infantry company.
|
A Royal Navy Lieutenant's sleeve/shoulder insignia |
|
A US Navy Lieutenant's sleeve/shoulder insignia |
The insignia of a Lieutenant in many navies, including the Royal Navy, consists of two medium
gold braid stripes (top stripe with loop) on a 'navy blue'/black background. This pattern was copied by the United States Navy and various Air Forces for their equivalent ranks grades (see
Flight Lieutenant). Unlike the United States Navy, which uses different insignia to distinguish specialists, the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies differentiated between line and specialist officers by placing coloured bands (known as 'lights') between the braids. These were abolished in the RN in
1955 (with other navies following suit), except for scarlet for medical officers (introduced in
1863) and orange for dental officers (introduced in
1924), which are still used. The former colours were: light blue for navigating officers (1863–
1867 only), and in the
20th century for instructor officers; white for paymaster officers (from 1863); purple for engineer officers (from 1863); silver grey for shipwright officers (from
1918); dark green for electrical officers (from 1918); maroon, later replaced by salmon pink, for wardmaster officers (commissioned medical assistants) (from 1918); and dark blue for ordnance officers (from 1918).
Rarely seen these days is the rank insignia worn on formal tail-coats, which comprises a silver anchor and a star on a shoulder-board covered with gold lace.
In armies, marines and other services, there is much greater variation. In most English-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries, as well as a number of European and South American nations, full lieutenants (and equivalents) usually wear two stars and second lieutenants (and equivalents) one. The United States Army, Air Force and Marine Corps are notable exceptions. These services distinguish their lieutenant ranks with one silver bar for First Lieutenant and one gold (brass) bar for Second Lieutenant. Naval lieutenants also wear bars in the same configuration as their equivalents in the other services. In the United States services stars are used for flag- and general-rank insignia. In the
British Army and
Royal Marines a Lieutenant is distinguished by two diamond-shaped "pips" on the rank slide.
Prior to the 1968 unification of the
Canadian Forces, the
Canadian Army and
Royal Canadian Navy followed the British pattern for second lieutenants and lieutenants. After unification, a second lieutenant wore a single gold ring around the cuff of the "CF Green" uniform and on shirt-sleeve epaulettes. A Lieutenant (the US nomenclature of "First Lieutenant" is not used) wore a single gold ring with a thinner one above it. On paper, these ranks applied to "army", "navy" and "air force" personnel, but in practise, aboard ship "naval" personnel (the former RCN was a very strong opponent of unification) continued to use the "acting sublieutenant", "sublieutenant" and "lieutenant" titles, until these were recognised by the Canadian Department of National Defence for
Canadian Forces Maritime Command personnel. In the mid-1980s, the "naval" and "air" components reverted to uniforms similar to the former RCN and RCAF. Maritime Command kept their naval ranks but Air Command continued to use "second lieutenant" and "lieutenant" rather than reverting to pre-1968 RCAF ranks.
*
Comparative military ranks*
Military rank*
U.S. Navy officer rank insignia
