Clearance Level

"Trust the system."

- Phil Coulson

Clearance Levels were used by S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep order in their system and protect information that is protected by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Numeric System
"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their owns." "It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."

- Steve Rogers and Nick Fury

There were 10 levels of clearance, as well as Level Alpha and Omega Clearance. As agents moved up from Level 1, they gained access to more information, and frequently, more power, though rank and clearance level is not necessarily correlated. For example, for agents to know all of the information surrounding the Battle of New York, they had to have been Level 7. An agent's clearance level was not based on how long they have been a part of the agency, but primarily on their performance.

When Phil Coulson became Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he eliminated the clearance level system.

Color System
"Why do I, level red, have to go through you, level orange, to request hardware? Shouldn't red be higher than orange?" "Well, orange encompasses both red and yellow, so... It's hard to explain, but the Director didn't want to use numbers because he didn't want any team member to feel less than." "But you do have a higher clearance than me." "Only in most instances."

- Melinda May and Jemma Simmons

Following the re-legitimization of S.H.I.E.L.D., a new security clearance system, dubbed the "Spectrum of Security" was established. Unlike the original one, which was numeric, the new one was based on colors. Colors such as orange would generally be higher clearance than red and yellow as both are encompassed by orange, but in some cases, the lower colors would have higher clearance in select areas.

Numeric System

 * Skye - Level 1
 * Katherine Shane - Level 4
 * Leo Fitz - Level 5
 * Jemma Simmons - Level 5
 * Mack - Level 6
 * Antoine Triplett † - Level 6
 * Rebecca Stevens † - Level 6 Clearancelevelrogers.jpg
 * Eric Koenig † - Level 6
 * Billy Koenig - Level 6
 * Sam Koenig - Level 6
 * Clint Barton - Level 7
 * Natasha Romanoff - Level 7
 * Jasper Sitwell (HYDRA) † - Level 7
 * Melinda May - Level 7
 * Grant Ward (HYDRA) † - Level 7
 * Felix Blake - Level 7
 * John Garrett (HYDRA) † - Level 7
 * Bobbi Morse - Level 7
 * Victoria Hand † - Level 8
 * Phil Coulson - Level 8
 * Captain Steve Rogers - Level 8
 * Commander Maria Hill - Level 9
 * Director Nick Fury - Level 10, Alpha Level, Omega Level
 * Alexander Pierce (HYDRA) † - Level 10, Alpha Level

Color System

 * Jemma Simmons - Orange
 * Melinda May - Red
 * Piper - Red
 * Phil Coulson - Blue
 * Alphonso Mackenzie - Blue
 * Anderson - Blue
 * Harlan - Blue
 * Leo Fitz - Green
 * Burrows - White