In the American military, why does silver denote a higher rank than gold?

Factual Questions
1

A second lieutenant has a gold bar, a first lieutenant’s is silver. A major has a gold oak leaf and a lieutenant colonel’s is silver. This seems backwards to me. Why are the traditional values of gold and silver reversed?

2

Could a moderator add “military” to the thread title?

3

It’s basically an accident of history. Originally, the colors signified whether the officer was in the cavalry or infantry.

4

I have always assumed that it has to do with the fact that the rest of the insignia are silver (which appears to be for economy). It seems logical to assign the off-color insignia to the lower rank.

5

An exception, excerpted from Wiki:

In 1919, in recognition of his distinguished service during World War I, the U.S. Congress authorized the President to promote [John J.] Pershing to General of the Armies of the United States, the highest rank possible for any member of the United States armed forces, which was created especially for him and one that only he held at the time (General George Washington was posthumously promoted to this rank by President Gerald Ford in 1976). Pershing was authorized to create his insignia for the new rank and chose to wear four gold stars for the rest of his career, which separated him from the four (temporary) silver stars worn by Army Chiefs of Staff, and even the five-star General of the Army insignia worn by Marshall, MacArthur, Bradley, Eisenhower, and H. ‘Hap’ Arnold in World War II (Pershing outranked them all).

6

I always thought that the more senior officer has had a chance to polish his decorations until the gold wears off and the silver shone through. i.e. polish gold plated second lieutenant bar until it becomes a silver first lieutenant’s insignia

7

I thought it was silver and* brass*.

8

Acsenray is correct–the U.S. Army’s Institute of Heraldry explains it all in detail–so there’s no need for any more urban-legendish speculation.

9

Interesting article, and I’ve wondered about the same thing.

It also says that while silver outranks gold for Armed Forces metal rank insignia, for medals the order of precedence is different. For medals of same design, the order of precedence is gold first, followed by silver, then bronze.