FACT TREK—Emblem-atic: The History of Starfleet Insignia

[J.T.B.]

A great and comprehensive article. The Amplicall is great! One thing I noticed: The excerpt from The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual is adapted from Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise by Lora Johnson, Pocket Books 1987.

I always considered Decker’s emblem to be “flag officer at sea” while the sunburst emblem was “flag duty ashore” or the Starfleet ashore symbol.

That of course raises another question: Why does Wesley use the "shore" badge?

 

[JN2849]

Mostly @Harvey and I post over in The Original Series forum as our FACT TREK project mostly focuses on that series and the movies with that cast, but occasionally we do a piece of broader Trek franchise focus, and this is one of them, so I'm posting here.

EMBLEM-ATIC
(link)​

Nothing symbolizes Star Trek like the insignia worn by its Starfleet characters as seen on TV from 1964–present day. Midyear 2020 brought it to the forefront when the official U.S. Space Force emblem was unveiled to historically naïve cries that it “rips off” the Star Trek emblem.

Over the years, many assumptions have been made about the various Starfleet insignia worn on the original Star Trek to the upcoming Strange New Worlds. Join us as we take a deep dive into the show’s most distinctive emblems, their origins, inspirations and the intentions behind them.

Trademarking the Future
There’s no way to know how early Gene Roddenberry decided he wanted a device or symbols to associate with Star Trek and the U.S.S. Yorktown Enterprise. His desire for such a thing first appears in the historical record some four months before photography would begin on the first pilot. On August 10th, 1964 Roddenberry sent a memo to art director Pato Guzman on the subject of a “distinctive emblem,” something immediately identifiable and also with merchandising potential.

This thinking ultimately resulted in three distinct emblems for the first Star Trek pilot: what we’ll call the United Earth (and its related Caduceus in the second), the Boomerang, and the Flying A, all of which have descendants in various sequels and spin-offs. We’ll also touch on the Outpost insignia, the Starfleet Sunflower, and the rule breakers that are Commodore Decker and the crew of the U.S.S. Exeter.

We begin with the more obscure, barely seen emblems and work our way to the big ones.​

Hopefully this is of interest to some of you. By all means ask questions or offer comments.

Great article, and very well researched. Just some good ol’ fashion Trek talk.

 

[Maurice]

I realized while writing The Captain's Oath (which featured Captain Chandra years before his appearance in "Court Martial") that the presence of other ships at Starbase 11 was a necessary plot point, not only because of the officers in the bar scene, but because they needed at least three command-rank officers to make up the court martial panel. Presumably they recruited them from the captains of the other ships currently at the base for repairs.

Circling back to this, early drafts of the script are a little more specific as regards the chart in Stone’s office, which was supposed to have columns for major maintenance, minor maintenance and cleared. How many of which are not specified, and only the Intrepid and the Enterprise are specifically named as being in for repairs, but one can logically assume they’re not the only of the 10 in for “maintenance. “

 

[Christopher]

Circling back to this, early drafts of the script are a little more specific as regards the chart in Stone’s office, which was supposed to have columns for major maintenance, minor maintenance and cleared. How many of which are not specified, and only the Intrepid and the Enterprise are specifically named as being in for repairs, but one can logically assume they’re not the only of the 10 in for “maintenance. “

What bugged me was Mike Okuda's choice in the Encyclopedia to assigne all the numbers on that list to Constitution-class vessels. It beggars coincidence that ten of the twelve would've been at the same starbase for repairs at the same time. It's far more likely that the ships belonged to multiple starship classes. (And my pet theory is that the Intrepid is actually a Vulcan ringship, an idea reinforced by Lower Decks' confirmation that ringships are still in use in the 24th century.)

 

[J.T.B.]

[...]the presence of other ships at Starbase 11 was a necessary plot point, not only because of the officers in the bar scene, but because they needed at least three command-rank officers to make up the court martial panel. Presumably they recruited them from the captains of the other ships currently at the base for repairs.

The episode makes it sound like they're not there at first. Kirk: "The officers who will comprise my court-martial board are proceeding to Starbase Eleven."

 

[flandry84]

Probably ships in the patrol jurisdiction of starbase eleven.

 

[Christopher]

The episode makes it sound like they're not there at first. Kirk: "The officers who will comprise my court-martial board are proceeding to Starbase Eleven."

Oh, good point. I overlooked that.

But maybe they were from ships that had only recently departed within the past couple of days and were called back for that purpose. After all, starbases were meant to be the equivalent of frontier forts, outposts of civilization well beyond the Federation's borders, there to support starships in the absence of any other Federation presence. And TOS's bible stressed the importance of portraying the galaxy as vast, with starships normally being remote from any help and having to operate autonomously (unlike the modern shows where interstellar travel is presumed to be an easy commute; this week's Lower Decks portrayed a mere 12-hour flight as an atypically long empty stretch for the crew). So people being called in from the Federation proper or from other starships not already in the vicinity should've taken weeks to reach Starbase 11. Of course, it's conceivable that there was a time jump of weeks before the trial started, but it stands to reason that they would've drawn on the nearest suitable candidates.

But then, if there were so many ships already in for repairs as we saw in the wall graphic, why wouldn't Stone have drawn on their captains for the court-martial panel? Unless most of them were sub-capital ships with commanding officers below captain's rank, though the one time we ever saw that in 23rd-century Trek was in TAS: "The Eye of the Beholder," the scout ship commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Markel.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

But then, if there were so many ships already in for repairs as we saw in the wall graphic, why wouldn't Stone have drawn on their captains for the court-martial panel? Unless most of them were sub-capital ships with commanding officers below captain's rank, though the one time we ever saw that in 23rd-century Trek was in TAS: "The Eye of the Beholder," the scout ship commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Markel.

Yes, we've been talking about the Ariel.

I think the fact that the jury has to travel to Starbase 11 is further confirmation that the ships listed on the status chart weren't necessarily intended to be Starship/Constitution Class and that Kirk was going to be judged by his peers.

@Maurice: On topic, If indeed the original intent was that at least the bulk of the ships listed on the status chart aren't supposed to be in the same class as the Enterprise, then, although it says nothing definitive, it potentially relates to the use of the Flying A for non-Enterprise crew in the bar in the episode, and it also pertains to the use of the term "starship." It means potentially that the Flying A may not have been intended only for the top ships like Enterprise, but also any other kind of starship in Starfleet.

I would just say that the door is opened by "Court Martial" that the personnel in the bar displaying Flying As might not necessarily be all ashore from starships in the same class as Enterprise.

 

[flandry84]

BTW
Flying A sounds stupid.
Just saying.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Why don't you call it the "Symmetrical Arrow Head" symbol instead of Flying A?

 

[Christopher]

BTW
Flying A sounds stupid.
Just saying.

It sounds to me like maybe Roddenberry was basing it on some kind of military or pilots' jargon for insignia designs. It probably sounded more sensible to people with a similar background.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_A_Productions

Flying A Productions was a primarily western television production company founded in 1950 by singer and motion picture star Gene Autry. The company offered four syndicated and three network programs until all seven of its series had halted production by 1957 or moved to another studio.​

I think "Flying A" sounds fine.

 

[flandry84]

I’ll be over here...not giving a flying #-@**

 

[J.T.B.]

But then, if there were so many ships already in for repairs as we saw in the wall graphic, why wouldn't Stone have drawn on their captains for the court-martial panel?

Yeah it would make more sense. Back in the sailing days when a court had to have at least five full captains most Royal Navy courts-martial were held at major naval bases for that reason, there were always ships in the dockyard and their captains would be free. Even on distant overseas stations it was often quicker to transport an offender back to Britain than wait to assemble the officers to sit on a court.

Flying A Productions was a primarily western television production company founded in 1950 by singer and motion picture star Gene Autry.

In cattle branding, the flying alphabet has wing-like projections on the letters, so a flying A looks something like this:

(My grandma's brand was a "running A").

 

[BK613]

The episode makes it sound like they're not there at first. Kirk: "The officers who will comprise my court-martial board are proceeding to Starbase Eleven."

And yet, the opening starbase club scene, before the hearing and that log entry:
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x20hd/courtmartialhd050.jpg
Kirk does change his uniform (from wraparound to tunic back to wraparound) so maybe several days are indicated. And the board members chumming around with the court clerk have left and had to return.

 

[Maurice]

Why don't you call it the "Symmetrical Arrow Head" symbol instead of Flying A?

It’s asymmetrical.

 

[BK613]

It’s asymmetrical.

So "Asymmetrical Arrow Head" -- AAH for short.
Great article BTW.

 

[Maurice]

I’ll be over here...not giving a flying #-@**

And yet you groused about us using a term Roddenberry himself employed. Fans…

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've gotten used to it being called the "Starfleet Delta" even though it's not really a delta.

 

[flandry84]

Stating an opinion is not “grousing” sir.
Lighten up Francis.