Independents' Symbols?

POSTED BY: Routier
UPDATED: Monday, August 30, 2004 15:18
VIEWED: 2637
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ROUTIER

Sunday, August 29, 2004 7:55 AM

I've been searching through the DVDs looking for Symbols, insignia, flags etc. used by the Independents. There's very little to go on.

We do get some clear shots of the triangular shoulder patches worn by Mal's platoon at the Battle of Serenity Valley, as shown in the Pilot "Serenity".

At first I thought it was a rank badge (the clearest shot we see is of Mal removing one from the Lieutenant's uniform to give the authorization code to the radio operator - and it does have 2 stripes on it), but Mal wears one which is identical, and he's a sergeant.

So the insignia (a green triangle with 2 horizonal yellow stripes, with an inverted black 5-pointed star superimposed) could be a unit formation (division, compnay etc.) insignia, or it could be national.

Whichever it is, I've reconstructed it (and will post it here as soon as I figure out how) on a rectangle on the speculation that it could be a used as a flag. I'll do a triangle one soon.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

HELL'S KITTEN

Sunday, August 29, 2004 1:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Routier:
At first I thought it was a rank badge (the clearest shot we see is of Mal removing one from the Lieutenant's uniform to give the authorization code to the radio operator - and it does have 2 stripes on it), but Mal wears one which is identical, and he's a sergeant.

So the insignia (a green triangle with 2 horizonal yellow stripes, with an inverted black 5-pointed star superimposed) could be a unit formation (division, compnay etc.) insignia, or it could be national.

I took a look at this a while ago, got some good screen caps, and the patch Mal wears is definitely different from the one the Lieutenant wears. I can't remember where I put those pictures, but I did find the first draft of Mal's patch:

Vaguely reminiscent of the Japanese Rising Sun. (?) As for other stuff, aside from the cavalry pants and the brown coats, there's not much to go on. I did notice, though, in "Serenity" that all the Independents seemed to be wearing blood red shirts with maybe wide white stripes...? Anyhow, I can look for those screen caps again if you're really interested.

HAWKMOTH

Sunday, August 29, 2004 4:56 PM

It's especially noticable during the war flashback in "The Message" that most, if not all the Independent soldiers we see are wearing the color red somewhere. We see Mal wearing the "cavalry stripe" trousers throughout the series, but in that episode (and probably in "Serenity" though it's harder to see) he's wearing a red scarf. Other soldiers appear to be wearing red armbands. I'd have to watch again to see what Zoe has on.

A Live Journal icon made from a screencap from "The Message" inspired me to write a vignette about the Independence significance of "Red."

http://www.mushy.freeserve.co.uk/anniesweb/fire/red.htm

RHYMEPHILE

Monday, August 30, 2004 3:18 PM

Can't Take the Sky has a screencap of Mal's shirt:

http://still-flying.net/images/serenity/

It's not a perfect shot. But Zoe's outfit is much more visible in the screencaps they have there.

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