Ensign (Star Trek)
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Ensign, the lowest commissioned officer rank of Starfleet, made its first appearance in Star Trek: The Original Series, although the first characters to hold the rank were small role extras. The first Ensign of Star Trek can be seen in the episode "Court Martial", where the rank of Ensign is held by an unnamed Personnel Officer who offers testimony at Captain Kirk’s trial. In all Star Trek incarnations, Ensigns often (but not exclusively) succumbed to the "redshirt" or "Ensign Expendable" syndrome on away missions. In fact, the red-shirted Security Ensigns in the original series are the source of the terms.
The original rank of Ensign had no insignia whatsoever, making the rank confusing with enlisted Crewmen of the Original Series. To make the rank of Ensign more notable, the character of Ensign Pavel Chekov was introduced in the 2nd Season of the Original Series. From this point, various other Ensigns appeared, although the character of Chekov was often written as the young, junior officer with much to learn much as is the case with actual Ensigns in many modern day navies.
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the rank of Ensign was granted sleeve stripes similar to the Original Series rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. An unnamed alien who makes an appearance early in the film, showing support for Captain Willard Decker during a conversation on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, held the rank of Ensign.
A Starfleet Ensign was not seen again until Star Trek: The Next Generation, when the rank is held (in a flashback) by Jean-Luc Picard. Later Demora Sulu appears in Star Trek Generations, as the first Ensign in displaying the TWOK rank pins in a movie.
The rank of Ensign became far more common in the later Star Trek television series and was held by several characters on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and the Voyager series. To again bring some meaning to the rank, Ensign was held by three major characters those being Harry Kim of Voyager, Nog of Deep Space Nine, and Wesley Crusher of the Next Generation.
The most recent Star Trek series, Star Trek Enterprise, had two major characters who were Ensigns, Hoshi Sato and Travis Mayweather.
As an entry level rank in the U.S. Navy, a typical Ensign can expect to spend 2 to 3 years "time in grade" before promotion to the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade). It is noted that Harry Kim spent his seven years aboard Voyager as an Ensign, and both Hoshi Sato and Travis Mayweather are seen wearing Ensign's insignia in the final episode of Enterprise, suggesting that they remained at that rank for nearly ten years.
Fans have suggested that the case of Kim was owing to the isolation of Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, although some say that Kim's actions during his time on Voyager did not bring on a field commission unlike Lieutenant Tom Paris was demoted to Ensign and then promoted back to Lieutenant. Some fans were very bitter that Kim was never promoted during the course of the show.
The suggested lack of a Lieutenant (junior grade) rank in Enterprise may explain Sato and Mayweather. Others have suggested that Voyager and Enterprise executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga simply didn't pay attention to such details.
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Starfleet ranks and insignia
Ensign
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Ensign is a commissioned rank of the Starfleet in the fictional universe of Star Trek. 
Junior rank:
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