That is quite an interesting perspective. I'd always figured that the different insignias represented different subdivisions of Starfleet -- i.e. each one was for a different group of ships under a shared command, rather than a single ship. This is the theory I used in my Rise of the Federation novels, in which I portray the early Federation Starfleet as a loose union of the founding worlds' individual fleets, kinda like the European Space Agency. I have the standard delta representing UESPA/Earth Starfleet (because its earliest chronological appearance is on the UESPA Friendship 1 probe launched in 2067), the Decker-style insignia representing the Andorian Guard, the Exeter insignia representing Alpha Centauri, and the "Charlie X" merchant marine "hoof" emblem representing the Tellarite space service (which actually does pretty much fill the role of a merchant marine, so that works out nicely). The Vulcans are represented by an IDIC patch, of course.
But there's no reason that system couldn't give way to something different in the interim between ROTF and the TOS/Discovery era. My intention was always that the separate fleets would eventually evolve into a more unified service and the insignias could evolve away from their national origins. So it could still end up becoming the system proposed in this article.
Of course, that leaves the anomaly of the Defiant uniforms in ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly" bearing a different insignia than the one seen in "The Tholian Web" -- a chevron shape matching the one seen on the "racing stripes" on the side of the Enterprise engineering hull and nacelles, also sometimes seen as a wall hanging behind admirals on the viewscreen. That seems to be some kind of generalized Starfleet Command emblem, but it doesn't belong on starship crew uniforms under the scheme proposed here. But then, since it is a different insignia than the one in "Web," I tend to think that maybe it's the Defiant from a slightly different timeline, like the ones seen early in TNG: "Parallels" where everything was identical aside from a few minor details.
But there's no reason that system couldn't give way to something different in the interim between ROTF and the TOS/Discovery era. My intention was always that the separate fleets would eventually evolve into a more unified service and the insignias could evolve away from their national origins. So it could still end up becoming the system proposed in this article.
Of course, that leaves the anomaly of the Defiant uniforms in ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly" bearing a different insignia than the one seen in "The Tholian Web" -- a chevron shape matching the one seen on the "racing stripes" on the side of the Enterprise engineering hull and nacelles, also sometimes seen as a wall hanging behind admirals on the viewscreen. That seems to be some kind of generalized Starfleet Command emblem, but it doesn't belong on starship crew uniforms under the scheme proposed here. But then, since it is a different insignia than the one in "Web," I tend to think that maybe it's the Defiant from a slightly different timeline, like the ones seen early in TNG: "Parallels" where everything was identical aside from a few minor details.
