Starfleet provisional ranks and insignia

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Starfleet ranks and insignia Cadet
Rank	ST:VOY
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Ensign
Crewman

Provisional ranks were first introduced in Star Trek: Voyager when several civilian members of a Maquis crew were appointed as officers onboard the Federation Starship Voyager. They appear to refer to provisional or temporary ranks granted to civilians who operate with Starfleet in the capacity of an officer.

In the first two seasons of Voyager, it was unclear whether the insignia worn by the Maquis was a version of Starfleet insignia or paramilitary insignia of the Maquis. Later seasons of Voyager, however, gave evidence that the Maquis officers, seen wearing the new insignia, had been granted provisional Starfleet commissions and were considered equivalent to Starfleet officers.

The highest ranking of these provisional officers is Lt. Commander Chakotay who Captain Janeway appointed as her first officer when her previous first officer was killed when Voyager was pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. Strangely, in a possible future experienced by Kes in which Chakotay is the captain of Voyager following Janeway's death some years earlier, he wears the standard four Starfleet rank pips for captain instead of the provisional insignia for the same.

This type of rank is also referred to as a "brevet" rank.