Omnis Vestri Substructio Es Servus Ad Noris

You're an imagery analyst, so naturally you see yourself as a Tolkein-esque flying serpent, dispensing destruction from the heavens. That's the apparent animating impulse behind what Paglen can only call the Unknown Dragon Patch. Dragons typically stand in for signals-intelligence satellite launches; their wing patterns on patches "symbolize the massive gold-foil dish antennae" of SIGINT spacecraft.

Better still, the Latin translates to "All Your Base Are Belong To Us," which we remember as the earliest and most bizarre of all memes. Maybe the crew operating the "largest satellite in the world," which the National Reconnaissance Office launched into space on Friday, will have a Double Rainbow patch someday.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/05fed24bda23.jpg[/atsimg]

I got a kick out of this and thought I'd share it. Good article here

Secret Insignias from the 'Black-Ops' world

Okay, you need to add some context to this post. It reads like paranoid nonsense -- is there any proof whatsoever that this is a genuine black ops logo?

reply to post by Solasis

Trevor Paglen, a bi-coastal artist and author based in Oakland and New York City, brought bad military patches to new heights of glory with his 2007 book I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me. It's a collection of more than 100 insignias from the most secret of military units. The following are some of the best patches from a new edition of his book coming out.

"I heard that one commander started a little witch hunt to find out who'd leaked a space-related patch to me," Paglen says. "None of these patches are 'classified' per se, but some were produced with an informal understanding that they wouldn’t be made public. I hope nobody got into trouble."

I dunno I'd like to get the book though

Some of these I have seen before.. probably from this book, maybe not. I love these patches... they are about the closest most of us will ever get to trying to see inside the black world.

Some archetypes that are common in the black world:

Wizard/Wizard Hat

Lightening Bolts

Omega symbol

5+1 star configuration

"North Star" symbol (usually alone in the top of the patch)

There is a strong use of magic and mythological sterotypes in this world to. Maybe because of the "cool" factor, or maybe because what they do is like "magic" to the rest of the world. *shrug*

This is great!

Real or not it's a hoot.