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.
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.
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.
If it is a starship, it's not a starship like the Enterprise, anyway.
