As the actual designer of the space operators’ badge then I thought I would ‘chip in’ with a few real facts.
I was tasked to look at a badge to replace the USAF one worn by qualified UK Service personnel at Buckley AFB, RAF Fylingdales, Vandenburg AFB and the UK Space Ops Centre. That was back in 2018.
The design brief was for something that looked like it belonged in HM Forces. It would be worn on the left breast in a similar manner to the RAF and Army flying badges - but it must be distinguishable from a flying badge when observed up close or side by side. So, I set to work on it, mostly in my spare time (the final design was constructed on the sofa on my MacBook in my lounge - not very Blake’s 7!). Various designs were made - 2 wings, single wing, ones with solar arrays for wings, sci-fi looking wings, modern fonts, legacy fonts, etc…etc… The final design decided was taken from the brief from the senior leaders - “develop the single wing design as a nod to the past to ensure that that it is seen as unmistakably part of HM Forces”. So, I designed the following with a blue wreath (to match the blue colour of the solar panels on space craft), with the ubiquitous ’delta’ logo (more on that in a second), a star constellation, an orbit and finally with silver-grey embellishments and wing - to make it look different and also tip the nod to the polished alloy used on spacecraft. This was the submission:
The more astute amongst you will notice that the badge’s star constellation is different to the final version shared earlier in this forum thread. I chose AQUILA ‘The Eagle’ originally, but the seniors thought it was too busy, so they chose ARIES ‘The Ram’. You can see the simpler constellation in the this picture.
So that was it, a badge was born for the new Space Command. Uniform regulations have been changed too, noting that Aircrew that qualify for the badge should wear it in lieu of their normal flying badge if they are operating in a Space Operators’ capacity, however, on being posted away, they may choose to wear their flying badge or the space badge should they wish. Further, this is not an Astronaut’s badge, we don’t have one (certainly not yet), so any Aircrew going into space as an Astronaut would currently wear their flying badge - just as Tim Peake wore his Army Flying Badge and Dave McKay wears his RAF Pilot’s Flying Badge on Spaceship Two.
So what about Star Trek?
That is a myth. The origin of the delta logo goes back to 46 Squadron Royal Air Force who had the delta arrow head logo on their heraldic badge (approved in 1937) and it was used on their aircraft in the more familiar form in 1954 - on their Gloster Meteors.
However, that particular delta logo was also being used in the USAF too - well before Gene Roddenberry used it for his writing of the Star Trek series in 1964. These badges were in use with that familiar Star Trek theme some 3-5 years before Roddenberry even began writing in 1964 for his 1966 series (which wasn’t that popular initially either).
So, the connection to space is not just military and NASA brought together their own logo in 1959. The familiar delta shape is on that too. It went on to be synonymous with space agencies worldwide too. Further, the delta logo is effectively the NATO standard now too, with many nations using it.
So Star Trek? No, they ripped it off from us. So make sure you use your encyclopaedic knowledge on this matter now!
Finally, for the collectors amongst you, then you can buy it from Windsor Medals as they have reproduced them from the original designs that I made. They also have all of the other recent designs too:
https://www.windsormedals.com/RAF_Nu...p/rafspec9.htm
By the way - it is not a ‘brevet’ either - that is a certificate, diploma or licence. Here is a current ‘Brevet de Base de Pilote d’Avions”, ie. a Pilots’ Licence here:
Please help me stamp out that ‘brevet’ myth/error too - I have a hard enough job correcting serving personnel making that error (it’ll cost them 50p to charity in our office if the dreaded ‘B-Word’ is mentioned!). They have always been badges or flying badges in King’s and Queen’s Orders and the Regulations (KRs and QRs). Currently QR206, QRJ 727, QRJ 728 and QRJ 729.