Star point up. Triangle point down.

POSTED BY: yellowjacket
UPDATED: Thursday, July 14, 2011 02:45
VIEWED: 14077
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YELLOWJACKET

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 9:40 PM

The following observations are the rantings and ravings of a Firefly fan with too much time on his hands. I'm having a slow day. Sue me.

When Firefly came out in 2002, the available materials on the subjects of canon were very limited, but for those few things displayed on screen in what can only be described as a very irregular broadcast schedule. Fans that were fans from the word 'go' clamored to understand every little detail of the Verse, for there is no fan like a Firefly fan. One of the issues that arose early on, perhaps more among the prop-making uber-fans than anyone else, was the question concerning the symbols and emblems of the Independents. One of the earliest to pull ahead in the race of prominent symbols, especially among us Browncoats, was the patch (and the later theoretical flag) of the Independents.

At first, the most prevalent example of the patch (the ever-present star and bars) was that one which appeared on the coat worn by actor Nathan Fillion as he portrayed Mal. Mal is seen wearing this coat in two important battles in the series. Indeed, it is the first easily viewable appearance of the patch, though it is actually shown on several soldiers before Mal appears in the scene. Because of this, it was, and often still is assumed that the patch is intended to be worn as it is shown on that coat alone, as if no other coat exists. More rabid fans that were blessed to actually record the sporadic airings of Firefly, noticed that not all of the soldiers in those scenes wore the patch in the same direction. A few people commented on this seemingly confusing wardrobe issue, but it did not circulate widely amongst the early fans.

As time went by, more and more of us became interested in the limited fan based collectibles of the Verse. At the time, there was no official Blue Sun shirt, no Jayne shirts, and almost no real merchandise to speak of. Still, even in the merchandise infancy of the Verse there was a fan based interest to possess all things Firefly. The patch of the Independents remained in the forefront among many popular coveted items, so several aspiring fan-capitalists created early renditions of it. Each of these possessed the traditional star, yellow bars and green background, though many showed the star as black. As the output of homemade and mass produced patches became available, the question of orientation began to spread. Some cried,"Star point down." Some cried, "Star point up." Many fans created mythologies that were not mentioned in the original writing at all. And the debate (although mostly subject to personal interpretation) went on.

Strangely enough, many of the people most interested in the answer to this question agreed equally that the best way to resolve it was to get the answer directly from the horse's mouth. Or in other words...from Joss himself. People on both sides of the question agreed that if Joss were to answer this question, the debate would end and all Browncoats would accept this final authority in full, as one might have expected them to do.

Not so.

When the Companion volumes for Firefly were released to the public, Shawna Trpcic stated that the star was always intended to be worn star point up and triangle point down. Shawna Trpcic was the series costume designer for Firefly. She is the designer that created the patch for the Independents. Indeed, she created the entire look and feel of their uniforms and the vast majority of costumes for the series. Essentially she's the Betsy Ross of the Browncoats, but this fact proved unimportant.

Some said, "She's just a designer, not the creator of the show."

Some said, "She designed it, that's the way it should be."

More unusual than either of these two responses was the prevailing third response. The supporters of make believe. These are the ardent fans that are so loyal to Mal as a character, that they endow anything related to Mal as an extension of Mal. That is to say, anything about Mal is gospel.

You see, Shawna Trpcic explained that Mal is seen wearing the patc

BYTEMITE

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:38 PM

Being a relative newcomer to this whole thing, I'd never really paid much notice. I was more familiar with seeing the official star point up version...

But Mal wearing his badge wrong, on purpose, doesn't work for me either, because when you wear a symbol like that upside down, it's a sign of disrespect. Mal having a disrespect for the Independent's cause during the war is certainly NOT canon.

Maybe if the Independent's High Command issued his coat, they could have got it wrong, but you'd think Mal would've fixed it then.

So I prefer the interpretation that BOTH are valid, perhaps with variances across regiments and among different officer ranks.

YELLOWJACKET

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:44 PM

"How many people out there are star point up and how many are star point down?"

I'm shooting for a personal gut reaction and a clear cut answer. Shoot from the hip, people. Answering 'both' to this question is a non-answer.

Edit: Furthermore, the three rank designs (black border, green border and yellow border) are all shown star point up in Shawna's designs. Rank does not change the placement according to canon.

BYTEMITE

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:20 PM

...That you know of. Because we're only given one example of how the badge may be worn (or two, if you count the wardrobe malfunction), and not given examples of different ranks or regiments.

YELLOWJACKET

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:26 PM

"Shawna Trpcic explained that Mal is seen wearing the patch upside down because of a wardrobe mistake."

All other canon examples are star point up. On screen and off.

BYTEMITE

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:36 PM

It appears ON SCREEN, though. Fourth wall it can be considered a mistake, but within the show itself, explanations must be made. That is all the star point down crowd have been trying to do. It's not a matter of intentionally not being canon, it's a matter of explaining something that's on screen and in character so it works and makes sense. I cut them some slack for that.

And like I said, it is only one example of a way to wear the patch for one regiment and a group of non-coms and privates.

YELLOWJACKET

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:42 PM

CANON: 1
FAN INTERPRETED: 0
UNDECIDED: 1

PHOENIXROSE

Thursday, May 21, 2009 5:51 AM

On my own coat, I was very careful to check all available screen references before I sewed on the patch. Where I could see it the most and the clearest, it was star point up. In fact, I couldn't even make it out on Mal's coat. I sewed mine on star point up, in accordance with everything I'd checked. It was distressing to me, actually, how many banners and patches and other emblems were designed with an upside-down star. Not only did I not think it was canon (as you've pointed out, it wasn't) but the five-pointed, upside-down star has a very strong satanic connotation. I don't think Joss, or anyone, would want that connotation for the Independents. Whatever his personal views on theology, whatever anyone's personal views on theology, he wouldn't be fool enough to make that a thing. Hoping, as he was, to be in the public eye with this show, I can't see him inviting that kind of controversy. Having done Buffy and Angel for as long as he did and always using the inverted pentagram in an evil context, he clearly knew that's what it was most associated with, and I'm sure he knew that a pentagram shown point up is a strong symbol of power, elements, balance, and the feminine, all things that he seems to like. So in that, it makes the most sense that he would aim for that in the symbol. There's not much dodgy in an inverted triangle, and it makes and interesting design. So in all ways, the design put forth as canon makes the most sense to me.

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YELLOWJACKET

Thursday, May 21, 2009 5:57 AM

Just one correction. An upside down star is not a pentagram. A pentagram, while often associated with Satanism, is an old symbol used by several different faiths and followings. It is called a pentagram because when drawn as an open star it creates a pentagon shape in the middle.

PHOENIXROSE

Thursday, May 21, 2009 6:01 AM

Please note that I said inverted pentagram, because that's what it is. Please note that, while not an exclusive satanic symbol, it does have that connotation in an undeniable way. Please note that I am Pagan and I do actually know what I'm talking about some of the time. Please note, too, that I'm agreeing with you. Kthnx.

(And it's a pentagram because it has five points, which can be extended from a pentagon. The root of 'penta' or 'pente' meaning 'five' is what to pay attention to there.)

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