Trump unveils Space Force logo, draws Star Trek comparisons

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump in a tweet Friday unveiled the logo for the newly created sixth branch of the military, the U.S. Space Force.

The dark blue circular logo features the words “United States Space Force” and “Department of the Air Force” surrounding a design that appears to show a planet with stars in the background and a triangular arrowhead symbol. It also features the roman numerals “MMXIX,” or 2019 — the year the Space Force was officially launched.

“After consultation with our Great Military Leaders, designers, and others, I am pleased to present the new logo for the United States Space Force, the Sixth Branch of our Magnificent Military!” Trump tweeted Friday.

The logo almost instantly drew comparisons to its similar appearance to the fictional Starfleet Command logo from popular Star Trek series of films and television shows. That symbol also features the words — “Starfleet Command” and “United Federation of Planets” — in a circle around a background of stars with an arrowhead-like symbol and a planet in orbit.

“Swell, now taxpayers get to pay for lawyers when you're sued by Paramount and the Roddenberry estate ...,” tweeted Ned Pyle, a senior manager at Microsoft and a Marine veteran. He included side-by-side photos of the new Space Force symbol with the Star Trek logos.

The Space Force logo, however, is also reminiscent of the Air Force Space Command logo, which features the same arrowhead design. Space Force was created by carving Air Force Space Command out of the operational Air Force, though Space Force will remain part of the Air Force Department, similar to the Marine Corps’ relationship with the Navy Department.

Senior defense officials in recent weeks provided Trump several options for the Space Force logo, a defense official said. Trump insisted on personally tweeting out the ultimate choice, however it was not clear whether Trump had final say on the selection, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Last week, Space Force unveiled its combat uniform — a version of the Operational Camouflage Pattern uniforms worn by soldiers and airmen. Eventually, the service will adopt dress uniforms and other cultural bedrocks like a service song, officials have said.

Gen. Jay Raymond was sworn in last week as the first-ever chief of space operations, making him the first — and for now only — member of the Space Force. Eventually the service will grow as Air Force personnel, including most of the about 16,000 airmen and civilians formerly of Air Force Space Command, are transferred into the new service.

dickstein.corey@stripes.com
Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

Source: www.stripes.com