6 ms·

It may be sinister, but its a damn fine design (interesting, and intimidating in a thriller movie kind of way), isn't it? Beats the crap out of boring bureaucra

It may be sinister, but its a damn fine design (interesting, and intimidating in a thriller movie kind of way), isn't it? Beats the crap out of boring bureaucracy. Wonder what other cool logos / unit patches / etc I am not aware of.

danso 7y ago
If not for the typeface, I'd think it was from the 60s, inspired by the Bond films' SPECTRE, and with a motto reminiscent of American peak postwar supremacy ("Nothing is Beyond Our Reach"). I had honestly forgotten it was actually a "relic" just a few years old. And how it was hilariously tweeted out by the Director of National Intelligence just months after the Snowden reveal: https://twitter.com/ODNIgov/status/408712553179533312 https://twitter.com/ODNIgov/status/408712553179533312
serf 7y ago
there are some books out there detailing mission patches from history, if you haven't checked them out I would suggest it. Here's one for space flight missions [0], but the military books are much more interesting imo. Also, if you're just into patch/military design, check out the art books for the Ace Combat, Armored Core, and Metal Gear franchise video games. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Human-Space-Flight-Mission-Handbook/dp/0981783856 https://www.amazon.com/Human-Space-Flight-Mission-Handbook/d...
magashna 7y ago
All the DEA vanity patches are pretty good. Their SpecOps unit especially. I believe it has a reaper with a quote "god giveth, we take away"
MS90 7y ago
Nuke commands have had some good ones throughout the years. Some funny, but mostly just extremely eerie. Death wears bunny slippers: https://media.wired.com/photos/5932c01d95879f6d0c009e10/master/pass/patch_bunny_slippers.jpg https://media.wired.com/photos/5932c01d95879f6d0c009e10/mast... Politically incorrect: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bLwAAOSwaEhZHz9u/s-l300.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bLwAAOSwaEhZHz9u/s-l300.jpg Satisfaction guaranteed: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiB52Y-HTES5GCiydIdD5tssV7hFdlT2lT9WRYOAca_24H-Xrx-g https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiB52Y... Central heating: https://www.airforcecollectables.com/images/USAF%20Patch%20SAC%20337%20Bomb%20Squadron%20B%201B%20WPCH%20Warsaw%20Pact%20Central%20Heating%20Nuclear%20Dyess%20AFB%20PI.jpg https://www.airforcecollectables.com/images/USAF%20Patch%20S...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  Don’t forget Dominos! https://www.designobserver.com/Images/Vanderbilt.Delta2.jpg https://www.designobserver.com/Images/Vanderbilt.Delta2.jpg
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    Reminds me of a joke we used to tell as kids. "How long does it take for western technology to reach the east? About 20 minutes from launch."
- dmix 7y ago
  Some of those are great, especially the Warsaw Pact Central Heating one. It's always a bit reassuring to know that dark humor is allowed to exist somewhere within these faceless organizations. They're still allowed to be human. Being a secret agency and protected from the Twitter brigades always helps!
  - PavlovsCat 7y ago
    > They're still allowed to be human. Are they, and are they, by extension, allowed to see "the enemy" as humans, too, or are these stickers part of the rituals of compensation? > [Hobbes] foresaw the necessary idolatry of power itself by this new human type, that he would be flattered at being called a power-thirsty animal, although actually society would force him to surrender all his natural forces, his virtues and his vices, and would make him the poor meek little fellow who has not even the right to rise against tyranny, and who, far from striving for power, submits to any existing government and does not stir even when his best friend falls an innocent victim to an incomprehensible raison d'etat. -- Hannah Arendt In light of that, "tough and mischievous", variations of which 99% of these patches seem to be, doesn't have quite the luster. On the extreme end we have stuff like calling children "fun-sized terrorists", which is clearly not dark humor that expresses humanity, but cartoonish dehumanization. > protected from the Twitter brigades Covering one's ears further removes any semblance of luster.
bewaretheirs 7y ago
International Space Station Orbital Outhouse Team: http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000603.html http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000603.html
xxpor 7y ago
There's the (infamous?) Cocaine Intelligence Unit patch: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Z-MAAOSwYd1dBYBV/s-l300.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Z-MAAOSwYd1dBYBV/s-l300.jpg
gadders 7y ago
I read that the Los Angeles Homicide Department has mugs with the slogan "Our day begins when your day ends."
- ealfert 7y ago
  Escambia Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit has a nice looking challenge coin with phrase, "We check in when they check out"... https://www.reddit.com/r/ChallengeCoins/comments/dcrgxb/escambia_county/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ChallengeCoins/comments/dcrgxb/esca...
rollulus 7y ago
Trevor Paglen has a section on this subject in his talk “ Seeing The Secret State: Six Landscapes” [1], it starts at around 28m. He details the symbolism and clues those logos provide. Highly recommended. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4vQA7eWgE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4vQA7eWgE
- tonyarkles 7y ago
  I watched that talk when it was first published. So so so well done!
- wlkr 7y ago
  Trevor Paglen [0] has produced some amazing works and many of my all time favourite photographs. I agree with you but also highly recommend those unaware of him look into his other publications and exhibitions. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Paglen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Paglen
  - nyolfen 7y ago
    > many of my all time favourite photographs i'm particularly partial to this one: http://www.paglen.com/img/87web.jpg http://www.paglen.com/img/87web.jpg i emailed him to ask about buying a print but never heard back
    - ShamelessC 7y ago
      What's being photographed in this one?
      - nyolfen 7y ago
        > This photograph depicts a classified “listening station” deep in the forests of West Virginia. The station is located at the center of the “National Radio Quiet Zone,” a region of approximately 34,000 square kilometres in West Virginia and parts of Maryland. Within the Quiet Zone, radio transmissions are severely restricted: omnidirectional and high-powered transmissions (such as wireless internet devices and FM radio stations) are not permitted. > The listening station, which forms part of the global ECHELON system, was designed in part to take advantage of a phenomenon called “moonbounce.” Moonbounce involves capturing communications and telemetry signals from around the world as they escape into space, hit the moon, and are reflected back towards Earth. > The photograph is a long exposure under the full moon light.
et-al 7y ago
The TIGER/Line Census data logo is rad in a wolf-howling-at-moon sort of way: https://twitter.com/michalmigurski/status/1156996116618964992 https://twitter.com/michalmigurski/status/115699611661896499...
MS90 7y ago
I found another winner, this might be the best one yet. Guess USAFE ain't the best post. https://assets.rbl.ms/17219578/origin.jpg https://assets.rbl.ms/17219578/origin.jpg
molmalo 7y ago
If you hate bureaucracy and boring logos, this one from NROL-10 might be of your liking: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/NROL-10_Mission_Patch.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/NROL-10_...

danso 7y ago

If not for the typeface, I'd think it was from the 60s, inspired by the Bond films' SPECTRE, and with a motto reminiscent of American peak postwar supremacy ("Nothing is Beyond Our Reach"). I had honestly forgotten it was actually a "relic" just a few years old. And how it was hilariously tweeted out by the Director of National Intelligence just months after the Snowden reveal: https://twitter.com/ODNIgov/status/408712553179533312 https://twitter.com/ODNIgov/status/408712553179533312

serf 7y ago

there are some books out there detailing mission patches from history, if you haven't checked them out I would suggest it. Here's one for space flight missions [0], but the military books are much more interesting imo. Also, if you're just into patch/military design, check out the art books for the Ace Combat, Armored Core, and Metal Gear franchise video games. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Human-Space-Flight-Mission-Handbook/dp/0981783856 https://www.amazon.com/Human-Space-Flight-Mission-Handbook/d...

magashna 7y ago

All the DEA vanity patches are pretty good. Their SpecOps unit especially. I believe it has a reaper with a quote "god giveth, we take away"

MS90 7y ago

Nuke commands have had some good ones throughout the years. Some funny, but mostly just extremely eerie. Death wears bunny slippers: https://media.wired.com/photos/5932c01d95879f6d0c009e10/master/pass/patch_bunny_slippers.jpg https://media.wired.com/photos/5932c01d95879f6d0c009e10/mast... Politically incorrect: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bLwAAOSwaEhZHz9u/s-l300.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bLwAAOSwaEhZHz9u/s-l300.jpg Satisfaction guaranteed: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiB52Y-HTES5GCiydIdD5tssV7hFdlT2lT9WRYOAca_24H-Xrx-g https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiB52Y... Central heating: https://www.airforcecollectables.com/images/USAF%20Patch%20SAC%20337%20Bomb%20Squadron%20B%201B%20WPCH%20Warsaw%20Pact%20Central%20Heating%20Nuclear%20Dyess%20AFB%20PI.jpg https://www.airforcecollectables.com/images/USAF%20Patch%20S...

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
GhettoMaestro 7y ago
Don’t forget Dominos! https://www.designobserver.com/Images/Vanderbilt.Delta2.jpg https://www.designobserver.com/Images/Vanderbilt.Delta2.jpg
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Reminds me of a joke we used to tell as kids. "How long does it take for western technology to reach the east? About 20 minutes from launch."
dmix 7y ago
Some of those are great, especially the Warsaw Pact Central Heating one. It's always a bit reassuring to know that dark humor is allowed to exist somewhere within these faceless organizations. They're still allowed to be human. Being a secret agency and protected from the Twitter brigades always helps!
- PavlovsCat 7y ago
  > They're still allowed to be human. Are they, and are they, by extension, allowed to see "the enemy" as humans, too, or are these stickers part of the rituals of compensation? > [Hobbes] foresaw the necessary idolatry of power itself by this new human type, that he would be flattered at being called a power-thirsty animal, although actually society would force him to surrender all his natural forces, his virtues and his vices, and would make him the poor meek little fellow who has not even the right to rise against tyranny, and who, far from striving for power, submits to any existing government and does not stir even when his best friend falls an innocent victim to an incomprehensible raison d'etat. -- Hannah Arendt In light of that, "tough and mischievous", variations of which 99% of these patches seem to be, doesn't have quite the luster. On the extreme end we have stuff like calling children "fun-sized terrorists", which is clearly not dark humor that expresses humanity, but cartoonish dehumanization. > protected from the Twitter brigades Covering one's ears further removes any semblance of luster.

bewaretheirs 7y ago

International Space Station Orbital Outhouse Team: http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000603.html http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000603.html

xxpor 7y ago

There's the (infamous?) Cocaine Intelligence Unit patch: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Z-MAAOSwYd1dBYBV/s-l300.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Z-MAAOSwYd1dBYBV/s-l300.jpg

gadders 7y ago

I read that the Los Angeles Homicide Department has mugs with the slogan "Our day begins when your day ends."

ealfert 7y ago
Escambia Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit has a nice looking challenge coin with phrase, "We check in when they check out"... https://www.reddit.com/r/ChallengeCoins/comments/dcrgxb/escambia_county/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ChallengeCoins/comments/dcrgxb/esca...

rollulus 7y ago

Trevor Paglen has a section on this subject in his talk “ Seeing The Secret State: Six Landscapes” [1], it starts at around 28m. He details the symbolism and clues those logos provide. Highly recommended. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4vQA7eWgE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4vQA7eWgE

tonyarkles 7y ago
I watched that talk when it was first published. So so so well done!
wlkr 7y ago
Trevor Paglen [0] has produced some amazing works and many of my all time favourite photographs. I agree with you but also highly recommend those unaware of him look into his other publications and exhibitions. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Paglen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Paglen
- nyolfen 7y ago
  > many of my all time favourite photographs i'm particularly partial to this one: http://www.paglen.com/img/87web.jpg http://www.paglen.com/img/87web.jpg i emailed him to ask about buying a print but never heard back
  - ShamelessC 7y ago
    What's being photographed in this one?
    - nyolfen 7y ago
      > This photograph depicts a classified “listening station” deep in the forests of West Virginia. The station is located at the center of the “National Radio Quiet Zone,” a region of approximately 34,000 square kilometres in West Virginia and parts of Maryland. Within the Quiet Zone, radio transmissions are severely restricted: omnidirectional and high-powered transmissions (such as wireless internet devices and FM radio stations) are not permitted. > The listening station, which forms part of the global ECHELON system, was designed in part to take advantage of a phenomenon called “moonbounce.” Moonbounce involves capturing communications and telemetry signals from around the world as they escape into space, hit the moon, and are reflected back towards Earth. > The photograph is a long exposure under the full moon light.

et-al 7y ago

The TIGER/Line Census data logo is rad in a wolf-howling-at-moon sort of way: https://twitter.com/michalmigurski/status/1156996116618964992 https://twitter.com/michalmigurski/status/115699611661896499...

MS90 7y ago

I found another winner, this might be the best one yet. Guess USAFE ain't the best post. https://assets.rbl.ms/17219578/origin.jpg https://assets.rbl.ms/17219578/origin.jpg

molmalo 7y ago

If you hate bureaucracy and boring logos, this one from NROL-10 might be of your liking: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/NROL-10_Mission_Patch.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/NROL-10_...