Talk: Starfleet uniform (2250s-early 2270s)

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Type B lieutenant "stripes" being LTJG[]

So in hegemony we see Montgomery Scott with a full Lieutenant stripe and he's only a Lieutenant junior grade and yet James T. Kirk's Paul Wesley wears the same stripe an episode earlier and he's a full Lieutenant. Could that have been a costume error for Martin Quinn.?--Jkirk8907 (talk) 17:26, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

I've gone into more detail about this here, but for almost all of the main characters in SNW, the rank they have been stated to hold in dialogue is misaligned by one from what their insignia would indicate based on the TOS rank system. This is true for such characters as La'an, Erica, Spock, Number One, George Samuel Kirk, Scott, and several other characters. There's no rule that the two systems can't be misaligned, despite how unlikely it would really be for such a thing to happen.

James T. Kirk could be a lieutenant junior grade and just referred to as lieutenant, as that is an acceptable way to address officers of that rank. The meanings of the rank insignia should come from what ranks the characters hold. This is why one full stripe is listed as LTJG, one and a half is LT, and two is LTCMD. The only characters that are inconsistent with this are Hemmer and Pelia, and Hemmer is inconsistent even if you say that the SNW system lines up with that of TOS, but that would make everyone else inconsistent. This is why its listed like it is on the rank table. 🖖 Mr. Starfleet Command ^{(talk • contribs)} 21:12, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

So for the US Navy, we called LTJG's as a full LT when speaking to them but in written form used actual rank. ‐Yaroze86 (talk) 21:31, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Yes . . . have either James or George Kirk had their rank mentioned in writing, though? 🖖 Mr. Starfleet Command ^{(talk • contribs)} 01:37, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

I do not recall. But I doubt her would be eligible for a command position as a LTjg. LT I could see as the next step is LCDR. As for Sam, he seems p.o.ed Kirk was already ahead of him on a fast track. ‐Yaroze86 (talk) 02:57, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

All true, but it is possible that James Kirk was getting a promotion to full lieutenant with the first officer assignment. This is still pretty low, but Una was this rank up until SNW, while still being Pike's XO. 🖖 Mr. Starfleet Command ^{(talk • contribs)} 03:12, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

Maybe these stripes denote not a rank, but positions? |:| - starship captain, || - first officer, |: - chief officer of the ship station, | - experienced officer – The preceding unsigned comment was added by ViTverd (talk • contribs) at 14:54, August 18, 2023 (UTC)

But M'Benga and Chapel aren't first officers, despite wearing the two stripes. 🖖 Mr. Starfleet Command ^{(talk • contribs)} 15:10, 18 August 2023 (UTC)

This is a reasonable argument. However, they are medical officers and their insignia is silver, not the same color as the uniform. So the silver || on the blue uniform can mean the chief medical officer, and the silver || on the white uniform can mean the chief nurse. (ViTverd) 23:30, 18 August 2023 (UTC)

Just throwing this out there, but could they be just service year stripes. 5 years per stipe? ‐Yaroze86 (talk) 00:29, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

Definitely not. Then the new chief engineer would not have enough sleeves. (ViTverd) 22:12, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

I don't mean to kill the creative mood, but the stripes represent rank, they just do. This is the clear intention; them being occasionally inconsistent isn't going to convince anything that they mean something else. As noted above, Pelia would have many more stripes were they to represent service years. Meanwhile, the whole thing of them representing position seems like it could work, except that a) it seems very contrived and b) character's stripes (generally) change when they are promoted regardless of whether or not they have an upgrade in position.

You people can continue speculating about what else the stripes could mean if you want, but in the end, don't expect anyone to agree about them not representing rank (although I will stand corrected if someone does agree ;)). 🖖 Mr. Starfleet Command ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:18, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

In Episode "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail" Lt. Commander James T. Kirk has |: stripes. Same time Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley has || stripes. Therefore, I still think that the Starfleet of this period uses patches as designations of positions, not ranks. There is a historical example of this. In the early years of the Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Red Navy, there were no ranks, and the insignia defined the position.

Therefore, I suggest considering this:

Line Officers Insignia
Position	Insignia (same color as the uniform)
Captain of the starship	I:I
First Officer	II
Department head and equals	I:
Station commander and equals	I
An experienced officer	:
An inexperienced officer

Medical Officers Insignia (Blue Uniform)
Position	Insignia (silver)
Chief Medical Officer	II
Medical Officer	I
Paramedic

Medical Officers Insignia (White Uniform)
Position	Insignia (silver)
Chief Nurse	II
Nurse	I
Medical Orderly

(ViTverd) (ViTverd) 0:00, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

But this doesn't make sense either given that Kirk and Una have both the same rank AND position. JagoAndLitefoot (aka Ausir) (talk) 21:26, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

Protection request (4 April 2025)[]

Moved from Memory Alpha:Protection requests

A year and a half later, this is probably not going to be fought over any time soon. -LauraCC (talk) 20:25, 4 April 2025 (UTC)

Done, protection lowered to allow-only-autoconfirmed. 🖖 Mr. Starfleet Command ^{(talk • contribs)} 15:43, 6 April 2025 (UTC)