When wearing the Blue Mess or White Mess jacket, First Lieutenants display their rank with sleeve insignia placed in the area formed by the two bottom ends of the trefoil meet the sleeve braid (the type of sleeve braid varies depending upon the type of jacket).
The single silver bar that comprises the First Lieutenant insignia is made of embroidered bullion set on a blue or white background to blend into the Blue Mess or White Mess jacket respectively. In addition to the two background colors, we also offer two methods for you to attach your First Lieutenant coat insignia to your dress uniform sleeves:
Select Sew-On if you plan on having us or another professional tailor or seamstress sew the insignia onto the sleeves of the Mess jacket. While this method obviously guarantees the most securely attached insignia possible, it also makes it more expensive to replace the insignia when promotions come along. Choose Clutch-Back to receive First Lieutenant insignia that are pinned onto and through the sleeves of the Mess jacket and secured with a clutch back similar to the way in which lapel pins are secured on jacket collars.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Second Lieutenants are typically promoted to 1LT within two years of receiving their first commission. Besides no longer having to endure the “butter bar” epithet, First Lieutenants are given the opportunity to expand their leadership skills not by commanding larger numbers of Soldiers, but instead by leading more highly specialized platoons that work with more sophisticated equipment at a higher operational level. Simply put, 1st Lieutenants begin to get a better grasp of the big picture and the roles that various units play in it.
More Army 1st Lieutenant Rank Insignias
One way they become acclimated to the new and larger scale is by serving as the Executive Officer of a company-sized unit, which ranges between 110 and 140 personnel. Although they do not have the same level of leadership responsibilities as when they led platoon-sized elements during their 2nd Lieutenant days, their work with the commander (a Captain) and the unit’s principal Noncommissioned Officers helps them understand how the various components of the Army’s organizational structure work together to achieve mission goals.