The Star Trek Insignia

[Avro Arrow]

I usually tend to refer to it as an arrowhead. Which is why I was a small bit disappointed when they canonized "delta". (If I'm remembering correctly, they referred to it in-universe as a delta in the Strange New Worlds episode "Those Old Scientists"?)

I've also referred to it as just the "Starfleet symbol" when discussing it with people who are as not into Star Trek as we are here.

Apparently during production of TOS, they referred to it as something else that I haven't yet seen mentioned in the thread: the Flying A. This article has some background on that, as well as a lot of interesting information about Star Trek insignias generally.

 

[Bea Jonas]

I ...Apparently during production of TOS, they referred to it as something else that I haven't yet seen mentioned in the thread: the Flying A. This article has some background on that, as well as a lot of interesting information about Star Trek insignias generally.

That's interesting. Cowboy movie actor Gene Autry owned a 1200 acre spread that he called the Flying A Ranch. Later, in the 1950s, his TV western series was made by his very own Flying A Productions.

 

[Bea Jonas]

Delta & Arrow-Head sounds more like casual colloquial terms instead of official terminology.

Exactly. I asked fans to tell me what they call it.

 

[The Wormhole]

If I'm remembering correctly, they referred to it in-universe as a delta in the Strange New Worlds episode "Those Old Scientists"?)

That is correct, though it was also called a delta a few weeks earlier Among the Lotus Eaters.

 

[Shawnster]

I've never called it an arrowhead.
I reserve badge only for badges such as the common badge from TNG onward.
Emblem, logo, or delta are used interchangeably.
I'd call it a patch on the TOS uniforms but only on conjunction with emblem or logo m

 

[drt]

I currently call it a "delta", but that seems like a more recent development -- it was probably "insignia" or "symbol" before, depending on how nerdy I was feeling.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Is "Doohickey" an option?

No; according to an episode of Green Acres, that is a crucial part of a Hoyt-Clagwell tractor. It connects to the thingamajig.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I call it "insignia", like most others. But there is another insignia that doesn't get nearly as much love and attention as the arrowhead insignia. Yet, it has been around since the beginning, and hidden in plain sight in numerous locations - what I call the Vector.

On all the ship livery:


In the background of the Starfleet Command for all Admirals & Commodores:


And then brought back to prominence as the USS Defiant's uniform insignia in ENT's "In A Mirror, Darkly":


I love it for just those reasons. It is obscure, yet omnipresent.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I call it "insignia", like most others. But there is another insignia that doesn't get nearly as much love and attention as the arrowhead insignia. Yet, it has been around since the beginning, and hidden in plain sight in numerous locations - what I call the Vector.

On all the ship livery:
View attachment 37761

In the background of the Starfleet Command for all Admirals & Commodores:
View attachment 37762 View attachment 37763 View attachment 37764 View attachment 37765 View attachment 37766

And then brought back to prominence as the USS Defiant's uniform insignia in ENT's "In A Mirror, Darkly":
View attachment 37767

I love it for just those reasons. It is obscure, yet omnipresent.

And it always comes back.

 

[Unicron]

Australia really took over Earth during the Eugenics Wars. Khan's legacy.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I call it "insignia", like most others. But there is another insignia that doesn't get nearly as much love and attention as the arrowhead insignia. Yet, it has been around since the beginning, and hidden in plain sight in numerous locations - what I call the Vector.

On all the ship livery:
View attachment 37761

Back in the day, I thought that was Starfleet's actual insignia, and that the ones worn on uniforms represented stuff like starship duty, general services, etc.

 

[Shawnster]

I do love these Starfleet Delta discussions. Here are some previous discussions.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/divisions-insignia-uniforms-and-assignment-patches.204505/

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/original-12-constitution-class-ships.259462/

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/starfleet-starship-insignia-was-all-supposed-to-be-the-same.235939/

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/crazily-shaped-assignment-patches.229381/

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/starfleet-command-insignia.200788/

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/a-history-of-the-starfleet-insignia.302800/#post-13240502

 

[137th Gebirg]

Sadly, it looks like a lot of the old pictures posted in those threads are long gone. I miss GSchnitzer. He was an amazing source of arcane TOS information.

 

[Tuskin38]

And then brought back to prominence as the USS Defiant's uniform insignia in ENT's "In A Mirror, Darkly":

It's also still used on the DSC/SNW version of the Connie.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Ah yes - quite right!


And I'm sure it's also somewhere on each of the DSC/SNW E's contemporaries that we've seen on screen these past couple of seasons.

Did Discovery herself, Shenzhou or any of the other ships of the fleet have that though? I don't recall seeing it. Maybe it was something that was adopted after they were built, pergaps.

 

[Bea Jonas]

I call it "insignia", like most others. But there is another insignia that doesn't get nearly as much love and attention as the arrowhead insignia. Yet, it has been around since the beginning, and hidden in plain sight in numerous locations - what I call the Vector.

On all the ship livery:
View attachment 37761

In Star Trek production memos, Matt Jeffries referred to that symbol (seen on the exterior of starships and shuttles but never on interior sets) as a boomerang.

Jeffries' boomerang design is apparently unrelated to the uniform insignia designed by William Theiss. According to Michael Okuda, Theiss referred to that symbol as an "arrowhead". Meanwhile, Gene Roddenberry is quoted in 1967 production memo referring to the insignia as a "Flying A".

I've noticed an interesting phenomenon among my Star Trek friends: those who work in fields related to medicine/science always referred to it as a Delta, but other friends who served in the Navy or Air Force usually called it an Arrowhead.

I suppose if Theiss and Roddenberry referred to the insignia by different names, it's fine for fans to have a variety of appellations also.

For instance, I've always called it Herbert.

 

[Tuskin38]

Did Discovery herself, Shenzhou or any of the other ships of the fleet have that though?

No they used the Movie Era/TNG style pennants.

Can't find any clear shots from the show, but here's the Anovos models

 

[137th Gebirg]

In Star Trek production memos, Matt Jeffries referred to that symbol (seen on the exterior of starships and shuttles but never on interior sets) as a boomerang.

Jeffries' boomerang design is apparently unrelated to the uniform insignia designed by William Theiss. According to Michael Okuda, Theiss referred to that symbol as an "arrowhead". Meanwhile, Gene Roddenberry is quoted in 1967 production memo referring to the insignia as a "Flying A".

I've noticed an interesting phenomenon among my Star Trek friends: those who work in fields related to medicine/science always referred to it as a Delta, but other friends who served in the Navy or Air Force usually called it an Arrowhead.

I suppose if Theiss and Roddenberry referred to the insignia by different names, it's fine for fans to have a variety of appellations also.

For instance, I've always called it Herbert.

We reach...

 

[Tuskin38]

The Nimitz Class's markings are Kind of TOS-Ish, but with the Starfleet delta instead of the boomerang

 

[137th Gebirg]

Huh…. Well, that’s a little disappointing that they did that, but I guess it’s such a small thing, not such a big deal. Glad they did their homework for SNW, though. Thanks for posting those.