Does the official Star Trek symbol have a name?
- Thread starter SicOne
- Start date
I'm no writer, but "Starfleet Delta" is the most common name I've heard around the internet.
Memory Alpha simply calls it the Starfleet insignia. Although in-universe, it canonically had its start as a United Earth Space Probe Agency emblem antedating 2067.
"Starfleet Delta" seems to be common in the books, but it's often referred to by the nickname "arrowhead."
"Starfleet Delta" seems to be common in the books, but it's often referred to by the nickname "arrowhead."
It's also frequently referred to as the Enterprise insignia, since the concept was that each ship would have it's own distinct insignia, as evidenced by the different insignia shown for the Constellation and the Exeter, as well as Starfleet personnel having a starburst pin on their uniforms.
Of course, money was never enough and sometimes we saw folks who, logically, should've been wearing a different insignia, yet were wearing the very same arrowhead insignia as Kirk and the rest, so this argument only takes one so far.
Best compromise I've heard to date is that the different insignia were for different fleets (let's say the Enterprise was in the 1st Fleet, Constellation was in the 2nd Fleet, Exeter in the 3rd, Defiant in the 4th, etc.).
Of course, money was never enough and sometimes we saw folks who, logically, should've been wearing a different insignia, yet were wearing the very same arrowhead insignia as Kirk and the rest, so this argument only takes one so far.
Best compromise I've heard to date is that the different insignia were for different fleets (let's say the Enterprise was in the 1st Fleet, Constellation was in the 2nd Fleet, Exeter in the 3rd, Defiant in the 4th, etc.).
I've seen it called the "Starfleelt delta" often enough, but I don't like it since, well, it doesn't really look like a delta. "Starfleet arrowhead" is much better, but probably calling it the "Starfleet insignia" is the the best answer we can give.
There's a nice explanation for the design of the delta given in Federation by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens.
Too complicated, in my opinion. "An arrow pointed to stars" is much simpler and more effective.
I've always heard it called the Delta.
I've heard it called a Delta too, but it's not in the shape of the capital letter Delta, not at all. Arrowhead is more descriptive, and I've also heard that name used.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Federation_(novel)
"One scene (pp 137-139 in the paperback edition) has a captive Cochrane explaining to villain Adrik Thorsen the principle behind warp drive. He starts by drawing a star and explaining that the line bisecting it represents light speed. He then draws a high, symmetrical curve, saying that it represents the infinite power needed to reach warp speeds under general relativity. Then he draws a much lower, asymmetric curve, with its peak after the imaginary light-speed line, stating that it represents the power usage of warp drive. The resulting graph strongly resembles the Starfleet emblem, especially as seen in TOS; later in the book, Captain Picard refers to the symbol as the 'Cochrane delta'." [Memory Alpha.]
i have to admit, i always thought that explantion was too clever by half.
But it does go a long ways towards accounting for the use of the Enterprise insignia before the Enterprise was around.
Absolutely love that explanation. Makes perfect sense and yet another great contribution by the Judy and Gar.
http://www.afspc.af.mil/shared/media/ggallery/webgraphic/AFG-071019-002.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...s_logo_ru.svg/381px-Roscosmos_logo_ru.svg.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx4hx6kxQl1qz8kcuo1_500.jpg
considering all of these precedents, the use of the arrowhead by UESPA doesn't mean much to me. and i would say that is all the explanation one needs for the Starfleet arrowhead.
just a shame the ESA are letting the side down...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...s_logo_ru.svg/381px-Roscosmos_logo_ru.svg.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx4hx6kxQl1qz8kcuo1_500.jpg
considering all of these precedents, the use of the arrowhead by UESPA doesn't mean much to me. and i would say that is all the explanation one needs for the Starfleet arrowhead.
just a shame the ESA are letting the side down...
Yeah, and then some.
Although it's more distorted, there's also http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/NASA_logo.svg
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.
Was there a labelled picture of the thing Cochrane sketched in Federation? Or more information that Memory Alpha leaves out? Or someone that does get what's going on in that, could you MS-Paint a diagram with labels that shows how you understand the description to mean, upload it on imgur and link it here?
Similar threads
