Does the official Star Trek symbol have a name?

[Christopher]

Does anyone know who designed it anyway? Real world explanation, I mean?

Presumably it was designed by either "The Cage"'s production designer Pato Guzman or its art director Franz Bachelin. (Or maybe the pilot's costume designer, but I can't find a credit for that so I don't know if it was Bill Theiss or not.) And it was probably inspired by existing Air Force or NASA logos.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Pretty sure it was Theiss.

 

[xortex]

I had this idea that it was an obilisk in space that stopped a war between the Federation and the Klingons and Earth adopted it as their symbol of peace.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Was there a labelled picture of the thing Cochrane sketched in Federation?

The simple hand drawn sketch of his description. ie. The Starfleet delta.

 

[iguana_tonante]

As a mathematician, I have to say that I don't understand that description at all. Why does the symmetrical curve represent infinite energy? Why is it symmetrical? What exactly is being graphed by the two curves?

The dependant variable is velocity, I get that much from the description, but then it seems to describe the independent variable as energy? Which doesn't make sense, since that would mean more energy slows you down in both systems.

I agree, and I would say this is one of the many instance when trying to make something sound more clever and scientific actually makes it dumber and nonsensical.

 

[Harvey]

Pretty sure it was Theiss.

Do you have confirmation on that? I know that Roddenberry sent Pato Guzman a memo on August 10, 1964 in which he wrote, "Let's give some thought to a distinctive emblem for our ship and the uniforms of our crew." That suggests to me that the ball was in Guzman's court, although it's not a confirmation that he came up with the design.

And it was probably inspired by existing Air Force or NASA logos.

I've seen it suggested that the design was inspired by the NASA logo that existed in 1964: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Meatball_Logo_-_GPN-2002-000195.jpg

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Although it's more distorted, there's also http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/NASA_logo.svg

I've seen it suggested that the design was inspired by the NASA logo that existed in 1964: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Meatball_Logo_-_GPN-2002-000195.jpg

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Harvey]

Well, it's not really a correction. Both logos existed in 1964, when "The Cage" was produced, at least according to a quick look at Wikipedia.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Ah, OK. I don't have a vetted source to ascertain for certain either way. I remember seeing both in my lifetime, but I have no memory of seeing those sorts of things in the 60's.

ETA: Locating the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_insignia, according to it, the one I linked to was the "meatball" insignia, while the one you linked to is the seal.

Reading further:

the red chevron, in the alternate shape of the constellation Andromeda, is a wing representing aeronautics (the latest design in hypersonic wings at the time the logo was developed)

 

[Captain Robert April]

I think a careful reading of the Star Trek Sketchbook is in order, specifically the section on the costumes.

 

[Harvey]

I didn't take that book with me when I moved to LA. It's sitting in storage somewhere. Herb Solow co-wrote the text for that, didn't he?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Was there a labelled picture of the thing Cochrane sketched in Federation? Or more information that Memory Alpha leaves out?

Excerpt from Star Trek novel, Federation by Therin of Andor, on Flickr


Excerpt (cont.) from Star Trek novel, Federation by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

 

[Idran]

Okay, that does make things more clear.

It still seems more goofy than anything as an explanation to me, but I at least get what Judith and Gar were getting at now. :P

 

[F. King Daniel]

The explaination in "Federation" always brought to mind the graphics on the bridge engineering console in TOS. The yellow and red wavy one. I could imagine that chart shaping itself like the arrowhead symbol.

It's also, star aside, a smart fit for the hollow USS Kelvin insignia.

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

How cool would that have been to show the Enterprise (perhaps when she was damaged in ST:II) struggling to reach warp speed: a computer readout showing the proper top curve and a flatlining bottom curve suddenly comes to life; the bottom curve fluctuates a few times and surges up to form the starfleet delta and the ship jumps into warp. You could make that dramatic on screen. At least, it's pretty cool in my head. lol

 

[Therin of Andor]

the bottom curve fluctuates a few times and surges up to form the starfleet delta and the ship jumps into warp. You could make that dramatic on screen. At least, it's pretty cool in my head. lol

Batman already did that trick in his 1989 movie, when the Batwing was momentarily superimposed over a full moon.

 

[Greg Cox]

the bottom curve fluctuates a few times and surges up to form the starfleet delta and the ship jumps into warp. You could make that dramatic on screen. At least, it's pretty cool in my head. lol

Batman already did that trick in his 1989 movie, when the Batwing was momentarily superimposed over a full moon.

That was a great bit . . . .

 

[FredH]

I had this idea that it was an obilisk in space that stopped a war between the Federation and the Klingons and Earth adopted it as their symbol of peace.

That sounds like it might be a creative mis-memory of a bit from the 1976 Star Trek Puzzle Manual, where you were supposed to draw lines between Federation and Klingon ships representing forcefields keeping them from fighting.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Was there a labelled picture of the thing Cochrane sketched in Federation? Or more information that Memory Alpha leaves out?

Excerpt from Star Trek novel, Federation by Therin of Andor, on Flickr


Excerpt (cont.) from Star Trek novel, Federation by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

Again - beautiful. A great explanation of the whole "warped" space concept, fit inside a very tense sequence with the novel.
Man that couple can write.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Does anyone know who designed it anyway? Real world explanation, I mean?

Presumably it was designed by either "The Cage"'s production designer Pato Guzman or its art director Franz Bachelin. (Or maybe the pilot's costume designer, but I can't find a credit for that so I don't know if it was Bill Theiss or not.) And it was probably inspired by existing Air Force or NASA logos.

Pretty sure it was Theiss.

Pretty sure it was Theiss.

Do you have confirmation on that? I know that Roddenberry sent Pato Guzman a memo on August 10, 1964 in which he wrote, "Let's give some thought to a distinctive emblem for our ship and the uniforms of our crew." That suggests to me that the ball was in Guzman's court, although it's not a confirmation that he came up with the design.

The book INSIDE STAR TREK: THE REAL STORY has this costume design illustration by Theiss that shows a rough sketch of the emblem.

But does that mean Theiss created it? Or was it something already handed down to him?

In any case, the patch for the first two seasons wasn't pointed at the tip, but slightly rounded. It wasn't until the third season that the tip came to a sharp point.