Do you have a flag?

May 17, 2020 11:07 AM

The U.S. Space Force has unveiled its service flag, based upon the logo approved in January; the design remains oddly familiar.

The U.S. Space Force launched its first satellite in March, after a brief delay due to an equipment issue. "Lieutenant General John F Thompson, Commander of the Space and Missiles Systems Centre in California, explained why the launch was proceeding despite the Covid-19 pandemic. 'It is a really, really important launch," he said. "It's the very first launch for the US Space Force. There are critical things, or mission essential things, that the US Department of Defence does every day. Even in the face of a global pandemic we must continue to perform mission essential tasks. [The satellite] supports the president and other world leaders with critical communications around the planet. This launch extends that communication into a timeframe beyond 2030.'" (BBC, March 27, 2020).

View the recruitment video for this service branch here; the application period to transfer into the Space Force opened May 1.

Some U.S. Space Force previouslies, here and elsewhere.

posted by Iris Gambol (39 comments total)

That's odd, I thought the recruitment video for this service branch was here.
posted by dannyboybell at 11:14 AM on May 17, 2020 [11 favorites]

"Scientists have always been pawns of the military."
- Dr. David Marcus, Federation critic and protomatter enthusiast
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:19 AM on May 17, 2020 [19 favorites]

And yet, ironically, Operation Warp Speed is nothing of the sort
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:33 AM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Most of my old USAF buddies are very pleased that there will now be Genuine SpaceCadets ™
for the other branches to torture.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 11:33 AM on May 17, 2020 [9 favorites]

Looking at his stupid fucking face, I just can't even. There's literally no more satire left in this world. Everything is one giant The Onion article. And we're all cry-laughing.
posted by Fizz at 11:39 AM on May 17, 2020 [35 favorites]

Logo is derivative of the USAF Space Command's, which of course was inspired by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroids_(video_game).

Which is apropos, as Space Command's primary mission should be protecting the Earth from inbound threats.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:44 AM on May 17, 2020 [3 favorites]

Bonus Palantir content: Space Force Receives "Kobayashi Maru" Tracking System
posted by rhizome at 11:44 AM on May 17, 2020

That's odd, I thought the recruitment video for this service branch was here.

I thought it was this.
posted by brundlefly at 11:47 AM on May 17, 2020 [8 favorites]

To be as fair as possible to the new design, the Starfleet insignia is clearly based on the NASA meatball, and I think it's also pretty clear that the Space Force insignia is a combination of the old USAF Space Command insignia and the NASA meatball insignia rather than a Starfleet ripoff.
posted by tclark at 11:49 AM on May 17, 2020 [4 favorites]

which of course was inspired by Asteroids

Probably a better choice for DoD would be Rip Off
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:50 AM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

The worst part about the Space Force (other than the name) is that it is somehow part of the Air Force.

Anyone who has ever seen any part of Sci-Fi knows that space warfare clearly falls under the purview of the Navy.

Ackbar? Admiral.
Picard? Admiral.

Yamato? Battleship.
Galactica? Clearly an aircraft carrier.
posted by madajb at 11:50 AM on May 17, 2020 [52 favorites]

Honestly was fully expecting it to be something like this
posted by weed donkey at 11:53 AM on May 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

the design remains oddly familiar.

put a hand on ether side of that logo and it would look even more oddly familiar
posted by pyramid termite at 11:59 AM on May 17, 2020 [3 favorites]

Naturally it comes with super duper missiles.
posted by doctornemo at 12:03 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

We're officially entering the Mirror Universe, it seems.
posted by Roger Pittman at 12:07 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

On my first scan I thought the date (MMXIX) said "Meow Mix" which gave me probably the world's loneliest chuckle.
posted by klanawa at 12:16 PM on May 17, 2020 [17 favorites]

I gotta tell y'all, the fact that the official Department of Defense Facebook account went along with this Space Patrol farce for Armed Forces day yesterday has me terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
posted by ob1quixote at 12:25 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

It put me in mind of another federation logo. See 0.29 in this link.
posted by biffa at 12:57 PM on May 17, 2020

Space Force will be the be the ones with Trump's "super duper missiles", I take it?
posted by Paul Slade at 1:01 PM on May 17, 2020

Looking at his stupid fucking face, I just can't even.

'Running government like a business' includes logo redesigns when you most definitely have more pressing matters to attend to.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:10 PM on May 17, 2020 [9 favorites]

That's odd, I thought the recruitment video for this service branch was here.

I thought it was this.

We're here to get the job done.
posted by Foosnark at 1:12 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Great. Now the Joint Strike Fighter will also be required to fly in space and costs will escalate eleventy billion dollars more per plane.
posted by srboisvert at 1:55 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

more than that if you want gerwalk mode
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:06 PM on May 17, 2020

Space Force will be the be the ones with Trump's "super duper missiles", I take it?

Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:12 PM on May 17, 2020 [11 favorites]

It's just a continuation of the Air Force Space Command logo which was inspired by Star Trek which itself was inspired by the Air Force squadron logos of the 50s and 60s. So life imitating life imitating art imitating life?
posted by dances with hamsters at 2:29 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

So life imitating life imitating art imitating life?

I would refer you to the case of British Broadcasting Corporation v. Metropolitan Police.
In 1996, the BBC applied for a trademark to use the blue police box design in merchandising associated with Doctor Who. In 1998, the Metropolitan Police filed an objection to the trademark claim, maintaining that they owned the rights to the police box image. In 2002, the Patent Office ruled in favor of the BBC, arguing that there was no evidence that the Metropolitan Police—or any other police force—had ever registered the image as a trademark. In addition, the BBC had been selling merchandise based on the image for over three decades without complaint by the police.

Or in other words, pop culture wins over reality every time.
posted by dannyboybell at 2:42 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

>Looking at his stupid fucking face, I just can't even.

Yeah, but beyond that (which is my baseline reaction to everything about him), there's some very specific species of stupidity that's exemplified in this photo, only I can't quite put my finger on it.

It's like when a little kid has caught his first fish or shot a deer at daddy's direction or something. An animal's dead, and somebody else mostly did it for him, and there's really nothing to be particularly happy about or proud of--but the kid is happy and proud anyway, because the grownups all approve and are letting him pretend to be a grownup too. It's a glowing love of approval, without any self-awareness to tell you that the approval is really head-patting condescension.

I don't know, I guess there's no point trying to articulate the particular ways in which this is stupid, since it's a total catastrophic failure of everything, at every level, on a global scale. But I can't help doing it anyway.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 2:48 PM on May 17, 2020 [12 favorites]

We're officially entering the Mirror Universe, it seems.

Nah, otherwise, Trump, Pence, and Johnson (at the very least) would have beards.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:50 PM on May 17, 2020 [3 favorites]

There's a chevron-style element in the original NASA seal, circa 1959, undeniably the ur-logo of both the Space Command, Space Force and Star Trek.
posted by the Real Dan at 2:51 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

While nearly every part of this is curious, I just love the anachronistic appearance of Roman Numerals for such a futuristic effort.
posted by achrise at 3:02 PM on May 17, 2020 [4 favorites]

Space Force MMXIX, because nothing says "high-tech future" like an unwieldy numbering system from an ancient fallen empire that spoke a dead language.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:07 PM on May 17, 2020 [11 favorites]

Half expected the E Pluribus Anus flag from Community.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:26 PM on May 17, 2020 [4 favorites]

How have they not been sued by CBS yet?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:44 PM on May 17, 2020

This is dumb and sad.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 5:14 PM on May 17, 2020 [3 favorites]

Thanks, I hate it. Fucker ruins *everything*
posted by Space Kitty at 9:14 PM on May 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

How did it happen that Trump didn't notice his name isn't on the flag?
posted by Obscure Reference at 10:54 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

OK so if you don’t get the Eddie Izzard reference in the title “do you have a flag?” Google the video. Calms the rage. Thanks Iris.
posted by pipoquinha at 6:17 AM on May 19, 2020 [3 favorites]

Bizarrely, yesterday the Japan Self-Defense Forces all but reenacted the scene from the Oval Office at the announcement of their new Space Operations Squadron.
posted by ob1quixote at 11:02 PM on May 19, 2020

> To be as fair as possible to the new design, the Starfleet insignia is clearly based on the NASA meatball

True, but at some point they should've realized that the design was skunked and they needed to come up with a new one.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:26 AM on May 21, 2020