A History of the Starfleet Insignia

[Danja]

Let's Revisit the History of the Starfleet Insignia

https://www.startrek.com/news/lets-revisit-the-history-of-the-starfleet-insignia

 

[BillJ]

Seems odd that such a current article wouldn't include the Picard-era Starfleet badge, it also omits that for a time in the 23rd century, the arrowhead didn't represent all of Starfleet.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Seems odd that such a current article wouldn't include the Picard-era Starfleet badge, it also omits that for a time in the 23rd century, the arrowhead didn't represent all of Starfleet.

Hasn't that been conclusively disproven in some unearthed memos from the 60's? The idea each ship had its own symbol was kind of a mistake which carried on through various manuals and ended up giving us a new symbol in "In a Mirror, Darkly" where none was needed.

 

[BillJ]

Hasn't that been conclusively disproven in some unearthed memos from the 60's? The idea each ship had its own symbol was kind of a mistake which carried on through various manuals and ended up giving us a new symbol in "In a Mirror, Darkly" where none was needed.

Yeah, but what is onscreen trumps memos.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Yeah, but what is onscreen trumps memos.

We see Starfleet personnel not of the Enterprise in TOS wearing the arrowhead insignia (Starbase 11, the original Defiant etc) so it makes it all kinda muddy. I think the old Star Fleet Technical Manual explained it by implying the TOS ships with other symbols were working under different branches of Starfleet from the main one (which it called "The Star Fleet Armed Forces", which I guess shows how dated that book is) but to be honest it's such a mess at this point any interpretation can be made with the contradictory evidence at hand.

 

[BillJ]

We see Starfleet personnel not of the Enterprise in TOS wearing the arrowhead insignia (Starbase 11, the original Defiant etc) so it makes it all kinda muddy. I think the old Star Fleet Technical Manual explained it by implying the TOS ships with other symbols were working under different branches of Starfleet from the main one (which it called "The Star Fleet Armed Forces", which I guess shows how dated that book is) but to be honest it's such a mess at this point any interpretation can be made with the contradictory evidence at hand.

Except none of the flag officers we see wear the arrowhead. They all wear the starburst insignia, except Decker in “The Doomsday Machine”.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Except none of the flag officers we see wear the arrowhead. They all wear the starburst insignia, except Decker in “The Doomsday Machine”.

Perhaps they went though a phase of unique flag officer emblems, with arrowheads on the lower ranks? Disco has their unique flag officer arrowhead. I dunno.

 

[J.T.B.]

Hasn't that been conclusively disproven in some unearthed memos from the 60's? The idea each ship had its own symbol was kind of a mistake which carried on through various manuals and ended up giving us a new symbol in "In a Mirror, Darkly" where none was needed.

What the memo said was that the Enterprise badge was supposed to be for all starships. It said the Tracey/Exeter badge was a mistake, and was silent on the Matt Decker badge. But even if those two were incorrect, it's clear that in TOS not all parts of Starfleet wore the same insignia. Unless starbases, outposts, Academy cadets and possibly transports are not part of Starfleet.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Some would probably say it would be easier to just ignore TOS and pretend that everyone wore the same insignia. Or it could be that during Kirk's 5-year mission Starfleet briefly experimented with different insignias during the "golden age of exploration" before deciding to go back to the singular insignia sometime after TMP.

IIRC, personnel on Communications Station Epsilon 9 were the last to be seen sporting insignia other than the Starfleet arrowhead.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net...ision/latest?cb=20170828221246&path-prefix=en

 

[uniderth]

My thoughts are that Kirk's era was a transition period from unique insignias to a single insignia. By the time of the movies it was mostly all transitioned.

 

[Damian]

I think Enterprise was trying to play on the idea from TMP back there were different insignias for each ship because on Enterprise each ship had it's own shoulder patch. I think they were assuming the different ships-different insignias was there at from the beginning and only changed to the familiar insignia by the time of TWOK, probably in honor of their most famous starship and crew.

Of course Star Trek (2009) and Discovery blew that out of the water.

 

[BillJ]

My thoughts are that Kirk's era was a transition period from unique insignias to a single insignia. By the time of the movies it was mostly all transitioned.

Actually, now with Discovery, TOS is the outlier and the arrowhead was the fleet wide symbol both before and after.

 

[Kor]

What the memo said was that the Enterprise badge was supposed to be for all starships. It said the Tracey/Exeter badge was a mistake, and was silent on the Matt Decker badge. But even if those two were incorrect, it's clear that in TOS not all parts of Starfleet wore the same insignia. Unless starbases, outposts, Academy cadets and possibly transports are not part of Starfleet.

Behind-the-scenes errors notwithstanding, from an in-universe standpoint, the Exeter and Constellation insignia are significant visual variations that can't be written off as errors on Starfleet's part. It's reasonable to say that some ships use the arrowhead, and some ships use different symbols, and as you mention, other facilities use yet other symbols. That's what we actually saw on screen in the canon.

I think Enterprise was trying to play on the idea from TMP back there were different insignias for each ship because on Enterprise each ship had it's own shoulder patch. I think they were assuming the different ships-different insignias was there at from the beginning and only changed to the familiar insignia by the time of TWOK, probably in honor of their most famous starship and crew.

Of course Star Trek (2009) and Discovery blew that out of the water.

ENT even gave the Defiant from TOS its own unique chest insignia in IAMD, even though the dead officers in "The Tholian Web" were wearing the arrowhead insignia (at least the ones that we could see).

Kor

 

[uniderth]

Actually, now with Discovery, TOS is the outlier and the arrowhead was the fleet wide symbol both before and after.

I'm talking about Star Trek though.

 

[BillJ]

I'm talking about Star Trek though.

The original Star Trek is definitely the odd man out in this brave new world. I hope someday we get a sequel based off of the original 79 episodes.

 

[J.T.B.]

Behind-the-scenes errors notwithstanding, from an in-universe standpoint, the Exeter and Constellation insignia are significant visual variations that can't be written off as errors on Starfleet's part.

Yeah I agree. Whether Enterprise, Constellation and Exeter were in different fleets or squadrons or regional or functional commands is anyone's guess. But there must have been some (in-universe) difference between them.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yeah I agree. Whether Enterprise, Constellation and Exeter were in different fleets or squadrons or regional or functional commands is anyone's guess. But there must have been some (in-universe) difference between them.

Wonky replicator. The new one was to be installed on Tuesday. Sadly both ships were destroyed on a Monday.

 

[STR]

The original Star Trek is definitely the odd man out in this brave new world. I hope someday we get a sequel based off of the original 79 episodes.

REMAKE!

 

[Tim Thomason]

The original Star Trek is definitely the odd man out in this brave new world. I hope someday we get a sequel based off of the original 79 episodes.

The Broken Delta is the overall Starfleet symbol in Discovery. Enterprise in Discovery has its own unique insignia: a non-broken Delta, which they continue to use throughout the decades.

 

[Shawnster]

My thoughts are that Kirk's era was a transition period from unique insignias to a single insignia. By the time of the movies it was mostly all transitioned.

I think Enterprise was trying to play on the idea from TMP back there were different insignias for each ship because on Enterprise each ship had it's own shoulder patch. I think they were assuming the different ships-different insignias was there at from the beginning and only changed to the familiar insignia by the time of TWOK, probably in honor of their most famous starship and crew.

Of course Star Trek (2009) and Discovery blew that out of the water.

Behind-the-scenes errors notwithstanding, from an in-universe standpoint, the Exeter and Constellation insignia are significant visual variations that can't be written off as errors on Starfleet's part. It's reasonable to say that some ships use the arrowhead, and some ships use different symbols, and as you mention, other facilities use yet other symbols. That's what we actually saw on screen in the canon.



ENT even gave the Defiant from TOS its own unique chest insignia in IAMD, even though the dead officers in "The Tholian Web" were wearing the arrowhead insignia (at least the ones that we could see).

Kor

Yeah I agree. Whether Enterprise, Constellation and Exeter were in different fleets or squadrons or regional or functional commands is anyone's guess. But there must have been some (in-universe) difference between them.

I do love these Starfleet Delta discussions. Here are some previous discussions.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/divisions-insignia-uniforms-and-assignment-patches.204505/
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/original-12-constitution-class-ships.259462/
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/starfleet-starship-insignia-was-all-supposed-to-be-the-same.235939/
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/crazily-shaped-assignment-patches.229381/
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/starfleet-command-insignia.200788/

From all these previous discussions, and the above quotes, it seems the most logical conclusion is the transition idea. Prior to the movie era, Starfleet used various different logos or emblems for different branches. UESPA was one such branch. By the movie era, Starfleet moved to a unified emblem. It was just coincidence that they settled on the familiar triangle shape that the crew of the Enterprise wore. It could just as easily ended up one of those other emblems or an entirely new one.

How often does the delta show up in ENT? We can't call TOS the outlier if ENT also doesn't have the unified delta emblem.