diff --git a/panel/src/components/AppShell.test.tsx b/panel/src/components/AppShell.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2821172
--- /dev/null
+++ b/panel/src/components/AppShell.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { MemoryRouter, Route, Routes } from "react-router-dom";
+import i18next from "i18next";
+import { AppShell } from "./AppShell";
+import type { Identity } from "@/lib/types";
+
+const tier = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  identity: null as Identity | null,
+  isAdmin: false,
+  isOwner: false,
+  loading: false,
+  refresh: () => Promise.resolve(),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/tier", () => ({ useTier: () => tier }));
+vi.mock("@/lib/config", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("@/lib/config")>();
+  return { ...actual, loadConfig: () => Promise.resolve({}) };
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  tier.identity = null;
+  return i18next.changeLanguage("en-US");
+});
+
+function renderShell() {
+  render(
+    <MemoryRouter initialEntries={["/"]}>
+      <Routes>
+        <Route path="/" element={<AppShell />}>
+          <Route index element={<p>page</p>} />
+        </Route>
+      </Routes>
+    </MemoryRouter>,
+  );
+}
+
+// The line under the email in the sidebar's user card.
+function roleLine(email: string) {
+  return screen.getByText(email).nextElementSibling?.textContent;
+}
+
+describe("AppShell user card", () => {
+  it.each([
+    ["en-US", "owner", "Owner"],
+    ["en-US", "user", "User"],
+    ["zh-CN", "admin", "管理员"],
+    ["zh-CN", "user", "普通用户"],
+  ] as const)("names the role in %s: %s is %s", async (lang, role, shown) => {
+    await i18next.changeLanguage(lang);
+    tier.identity = { user_id: "u-1", email: "a@example.test", role } as Identity;
+    renderShell();
+    expect(roleLine("a@example.test")).toBe(shown);
+  });
+
+  it("names no role before it has read one", () => {
+    renderShell();
+    const dashes = screen.getAllByText("—");
+    expect(dashes).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(screen.queryByText(/^user$/i)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/panel/src/components/AppShell.tsx b/panel/src/components/AppShell.tsx
index a416558..8fe7d08 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/AppShell.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/AppShell.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { ConfigBanner, VersionBadge } from "@/components/RuntimeStatus";
 import { ErrorBoundary } from "@/components/ErrorBoundary";
 import { Loading } from "@/components/States";
+import { ROLE_LABEL_KEY } from "@/components/RoleBadge";
 
 function SectionGroup({
   section,
@@ -71,9 +72,9 @@ const FOOT_ICON_BTN =
 
 function UserStrip() {
   // The sidebar foot identifies the principal and exposes one action — sign out.
-  // identity?.email is the only display-safe field (user_id is a UUID, role is
-  // server-truth not display). While /me is loading or has failed we render a
-  // muted placeholder rather than a broken row, so the strip never flashes empty.
+  // It shows the email and the role by its name in the UI language (user_id is a
+  // UUID). While /me is loading or has failed both lines hold a muted dash, so
+  // the strip never flashes empty and never names a role it has not read.
   const { identity, refresh } = useTier();
   const { t } = useTranslation("account");
   const [signingOut, setSigningOut] = useState(false);
@@ -99,8 +100,8 @@ function UserStrip() {
         >
           {identity?.email ?? <span className="text-muted-foreground/40">—</span>}
         </div>
-        <div className="text-[10px] text-muted-foreground/70 capitalize font-medium">
-          {identity?.role ?? "user"}
+        <div className="text-[10px] text-muted-foreground/70 font-medium">
+          {identity ? t(`admin:${ROLE_LABEL_KEY[identity.role]}`) : <span className="text-muted-foreground/40">—</span>}
         </div>
       </div>
       <button
diff --git a/panel/src/components/RoleBadge.tsx b/panel/src/components/RoleBadge.tsx
index 11e9f33..4998a89 100644
--- a/panel/src/components/RoleBadge.tsx
+++ b/panel/src/components/RoleBadge.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ const STYLE_MAP = {
   user: "bg-muted text-muted-foreground",
 };
 
-const I18N_KEY = {
+// The role's name in the UI language, under the admin namespace.
+export const ROLE_LABEL_KEY = {
   owner: "users_role_owner",
   admin: "users_role_admin",
   user: "users_role_user",
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ export function RoleBadge({ role }: { role: "owner" | "admin" | "user" }) {
       )}
     >
       <Icon className="h-3 w-3" />
-      {t(I18N_KEY[role])}
+      {t(ROLE_LABEL_KEY[role])}
     </span>
   );
 }