Star Trek Mythconceptions: The TOS-era Starship Emblems

In response to a lot of messages I've been getting, I felt compelled to quickly get this video out. It reveals the truth about the emblems on the uniforms of characters on the original Star Trek series. Contrary to popular belief, the ships of Starfleet did NOT all have their own uniform emblems.

[thevisionary]

First time seeing this channel, love the "Thames" inspired intro!

[JelloFluoride]

It's honestly hilarious that a single memo clarifies a wardrobe mistake that fans have potentially argued about for decades. 🤣

[gabrielvampyre]

I think it boils down to a case of prominence. When we see Commodore Decker commanding the Constellation, he has a unique symbol. When we see Captain Stacy commanding the Exeter, he has a unique symbol. When we see Commodore Wesley commanding the Lexington, he has the starbase symbol, but it feels like a unique symbol because it isn't a symbol we see all the time. Yes, we see the crew of other starships wearing the normal delta, but every time we see a captain of another Starship in TOS, they have a symbol other than the delta. All the memorable instances have "unique" symbols. It is admittedly easy to incorrectly infer that the symbols vary by starship.

An additional wrinkle to this is that Captain O'Shea from TAS of the USS Huron (note the "USS" and not just "SS") has a unique insignia as well.

Also, I was just watching a clip of The Ultimate Computer and they really go out of their way with framing the Lexington crew members in the background to make absolutely sure they don't flash their emblems. And on the Defiant in The Tholian Web, the bodies are shown face down to conceal the emblem, and the one body which is face up has a person strangling him concealing the emblem.

I think the whole thing about starfleet adopting the USS Enterprise delta/arrowhead as the universal starfleet symbol may have first popped up in the novelization of The Motion Picture. The TOS era unique emblems for different ships certainly wasn't originally intended, but it certainly became fanon and later canon even before TMP.

[russellharrell]

I’ve been aware of this suspected costume gaff for quite a while thanks to some astute people on the internet. It’s like the ‘5 mile fallacy’ of Star Wars.

Uniforms in Star Trek are a funny thing. In the TOS Era you have the the ‘pilot’ uniforms from the Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before being replaced by the brightly colored uniforms of the production series which were replaced by TMP uniforms all in a span of about 5 years in continuity, only to be replaced again in a few years by the red militaristic uniforms of the rear of the TOS films. Then you don’t have new uniforms (or major changes to them) for 80 years of continuity, only to have constant updates and changes to TNG pajamas over the next 15 or so years in continuity.

[jwlamb]

If you go back and read one of the original manuals about Star Trek written back in the late 60s early 70s, you will see the various starship insignias as well as the ship registration numbers.

[dabhidhm]

Great job. I hadn't noticed the frequency of divergent badges appearing on diverse categories of personnel. I always casually assumed that they started out trying different badges for different ships but gave it up because it was expensive.

[illegalclown]

I was a little annoyed when the newer shows set in the TOS era used the "Enterprise" badge for other ships. I too thought the TOS era had unique badges for every ship. Then I realized they were inconsistent. The more I looked at it, I realized that most fleet officers wore the same badge, but that different commands or whatever had different ones. As you say, bases and cargo ships had their own badges. I thought of it like how the Army has a unique patch for each division or higher command. I can see it like you say though, like how Navy personell have different badges for surface ships, subs, aviators, SEALS, and so on.

[aquariandawn]

First time here, lemme say, The Dude is a major selling point for me.

[MoonjumperReviews]

You are correct, sir. I read this some twenty-plus years ago in a book, “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, ” written by Robert Justman, himself.

[indetigersscifireview]

In my head canon Decker was promoted just before the Doomsday Machine incident and they were heading to Earth so he can take up his new command. I have no real reason for thinking it.

[transitengineer]

Thank you, for taking the time to explain something so easy to understand. Have been a Star Trek fan since the early 1970's while in middle school. One thing, I have always enjoyed about the 1960's Star Trek TV show is that its creator was a former U.S. Navy officer. Therefore, so many things presented on the TV show are, just correct and on point with anybody who served in WW-2, Korea, or the Vietnam wars. Even myself, who served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force during the 1980's can clearly see all the things presented correctly on the 1960's Star Trek TV show. Today, it is so sad few rich, upper middle class, or even lower middle class youth join and spend a few years in the military (smile...smile).

[gundamknt]

A lot of this came from the mr Scott guide to enterprise and the original tech manual that talks about different insignia for different ships and the because of the success of the enterprises 5 year mission the insignia becoming the one for all of star fleet

[SuperChicken]

As someone who watched the first episode of TOS to air (the first night it aired) and was fascinated from the get-go, I must admit that I have been educated by this video.😊❤❤❤

[toddhutchins]

In the early 70's there was a book released call the Star Trek Compendium, that was essentially the background information and rules that Roddenberry gave to the (guest) writers for the show. that book explained sleeve rank "stripes" and other aspects of the show. One of the things it explained was that each ship had their own emblem. It was only after they made the Enterprise the Starfleet flag ship that the delta was used fleet-wide.

[stevenkmiller]

When i was a kid, I learned a lot about the military from Star Trek. My desire to serve came from wanting to be a part of something like what the crew was in ST. I did serve three years in the US Army and learned that, while there were differences, it was a lot like i thought it would be.

[fractalelf]

My eyes were opened here. I was one who had heard and firmly believed that in TOS each ship had its own design. I am 90% sure that FASA had a role in repeating this fallacy to many.

[sydneysmith]

Back in the 1960s, Roddenberry was on a tight budget. The standard delta emblem was most likely a cost control measure. Later, after TOS was cancelled, the idea was that, just as all US Army units have their own patch, different starships had their on emblem. Thank you.

[GeekFilter]

In regards to the Defiant insignia “A mirror Darkley“ Michael Okuda told me that at the time they didn’t have the Hi-Rez restored version of that episode, but looking back now it’s clear that the Defiant also had the regular Starfleet insignia so that was also an error, not a fanboy thing.

And to further reinforce the Robert Justman letter, Bob Klein from the animated series had mentioned to me that they were also told that all Starfleet personnel have the same badge unless they are a freighter ship or possibly something from the past where it might’ve been different (at that point they didn’t have 50 years of backstory to pull from)

[beejay]

Love the vintage ‘Thames Television’ opening! An unexpected blast from the past that made me laugh out loud

[joeminpa]

Thanks for reading that memo. I was under the misconception. But, I read that somewhere way back in the 'ate '70s to early '90s era. So it only took around 40 years to get to the truth.