Ensign is a rank of officer in many naval services and space forces, most notably Earth Starfleet and its Federation counterpart.

StandingEdit

An ensign is the most basic officer rank, a grade above than any enlisted person or non-commissioned officer, and a grade below lieutenant junior grade in most rank structures, although some organizations will advance to another lieutenant rank. The Federation also has used ranks below and above ensign, ensign junior grade and ensign first class. The ensign rank is roughly equivalent with the authority of a second lieutenant of military forces and service organizations. The Romulan Star Empire has two ranks, antecenturion (erein in the Romulan language) and equitoriam, that are analogous to an ensign's standing. In the Cardassian language, gil is a Cardassian officer rank title which, in translation to Federation Standard, is approximately equivalent to an ensign. In Klingonese, an ensign is referred to as lagh. (TOS - Rihannsu novel: The Romulan Way; TLE - Terok Nor novel: Day of the Vipers; ST references: The Klingon Dictionary, Klingon for the Galactic Traveler)

Starfleet ensignsEdit

22nd centuryEdit

In the Earth Starfleet uniforms of the 22nd century, ensigns wore pin insignia of a single rectangular pip. (Star Trek: Enterprise)

23rd centuryEdit

By the era of the early 23rd century Federation Starfleet, ensigns wore standard duty uniforms with no sleeve stripes. (ST movie: Star Trek)

By the middle of the 23rd century, a new tunic was worn by Starfleet all line officers wore the same single-stripe sleeve insignia, including ensigns. (TOS episode: "The Cage")

By the 2260s, a new uniform design once again featured no discernable insignia for ensigns on everyday uniforms. This also occurred in an alternate reality uniform design used around 2258. (TOS, ST movie: Star Trek)

By the uniform redesign of the 2270s, ensigns wore a broken gold braid stripe on class A uniform sleeves and a similar broken band as an embroidered epaulet insignia. (TOS movie: The Motion Picture)

In the uniforms of the 2280s, ensigns wore pin a single V-shaped insignia. (ST reference: Star Trek Encyclopedia)

Before the Star Trek Encyclopedia depicted a fairly accurate version of Robert Fletcher's rank pin designs used in canon, other sources presented differing ensign insignia, such as Shane Johnson's ST reference: Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, which specified ensigns wear no insignia.

24th centuryEdit

In the uniform insignia introduced in the mid-24th century, an ensign wears one circular gold pip as their rank insignia. This style continued through several uniform styles before being replaced by a rectangular stylized pin. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual; Star Trek: Countdown, STO video game: Star Trek Online)

Starfleet ensign insigniaEdit

Earth command ensign's 22nd century lapel insignia.

Command ensign's early 23rd century sleeve.

Command officer's 23rd century sleeve insignia. Some ensign's uniforms omit officer insignia.

Command ensign's mid-23rd century sleeve in an alternate reality.

Command ensign's mid-23rd century sleeve.

Ensign's 2270s rank braid.

Command ensign's 2270s command division rank epaulet.

Command ensign's 2270s-2350s rank pin.

Command ensign's later-24th century rank pin.

Command ensign's later-24th century rank pin.

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Bajoran ensignsEdit

The Bajoran Militia used ensign as their lowest officer rank. A Bajoran ensign wore an insignia of a stylized Bajoran insignia, with part of the symbol removed. (ST reference: Star Trek Encyclopedia)

Klingon ensignsEdit

The naval forces of the Klingon Defense Force used ensign as their lowest officer rank. A Klingon ensign wore an insignia of a stylized circle with a symbol of two connected slashes. (FASA RPG modules: The Klingons: Starfleet Intelligence Manual, The Klingons: Game Operations Manual)

US ensignsEdit

The US Navy of Earth's United States of America nation used ensign as their lowest officer rank. An American ensign wore a pin insignia of a gold rectangular bar and a single gold stripe on uniforms with sleeve insignia.

The American insignia are derived from real-life sources and are known to have been used in Star Trek canon productions.

Positions and listsEdit

StarfleetEdit

see category:Starfleet ensigns.

KlingonEdit

see category:Klingon ensigns.

AppendicesEdit

ConnectionsEdit

External linkEdit

• Ensign article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.