Assignment patch

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602 Club patches large — Several patches on display in the 602 Club

NASA patches, First Flight — NASA patches on display in the 602 Club

Commodore Robert Wesley wears the "Starfleet Command" assignment patch

An assignment patch was a patch or badge seen on uniforms, most notably on Earth, where their use began in the 20th century. The United Earth Starfleet and MACO personal continued to use assignment patches to denote the ship, station, or other post to which an individual was assigned, as did the later Federation Starfleet.

History

In 20th and 21st century Earth, assignment patches were used on military uniforms and civilian uniforms alike. NASA patches from that era appeared in the bar at Zefram Cochrane's missile complex in Bozeman, Montana and at the 602 Club in San Francisco. {Star Trek: First Contact; ENT: "First Flight")

While most of the patches seen at the 602 Club were real NASA mission patches, one case contained fictional patches from the Star Trek universe. Many of them were shown only in First Flight.

In the early 22nd century, Starfleet personnel wore assignment patches on the sleeve of their left arm, in a similar style worn during the initial period of space flight on Earth. The uniform was later updated, adding the Starfleet patch to the right arm. (ENT; ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

In the mid-23rd century, Starfleet continued the tradition of using unique patch emblems for different assignments, albeit placing them instead over the left breast. By 2278 this styling ceased, and Starfleet adopted the USS Enterprise's assignment patch as the standard emblem for all Starfleet personnel. Assignment patches thus fell into disuse, and Starfleet supplanted them with badges and eventually combadges. (TOS; TNG: "Cause and Effect")

In the 24th century, Starfleet Academy used assignment patches for members of the elite Red Squad unit in 2372. (DS9: "Homefront")

In the mirror universe, the Terran Empire used the traditional styling from the 22nd century. While the Empire's uniforms had several variations that distinguished them from those of the prime universe, they still wore mission patches on their shoulders. By the 23rd century the mission patch had been replaced with the Imperial insignia. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly", "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"; TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")

20th and 21st century patches

22nd century patches

23rd century patches

24th century patches

Starfleet uniform styles

By era:

2140s-Early 2160s • Mid 2160s •
2230s • Late 2230s-2250s • 2250s-Early 2270s • Mid 2270s • Late 2270s-2350s •
2350s-2370s • Late 2360s-Early 2370s • 2370s-Early 2380s • Early 2380s • Mid 2380s •
Late 2390s • Early 2400s • 29th century • 32nd century

By type:

Casual duty attire • Alternate & parallel uniforms • Alternate reality uniforms •
Fictional uniforms • Terran Empire uniforms

Appendices

Background information

The last assignment patch seen in the 23rd century was for Epsilon IX Station personnel in 2272. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
The Starfleet pins adopting the Enterprise emblem were first seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; this badge was made into a combadge by 2344, the era of TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise". Newer combadges were first seen in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint".
The assignment patch for the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the movie era Starfleet assignment badge are very similar to those used by the US Space Command in the 20th century and early 21st century.
There are some stray elements which detract from the "one ship, one emblem" theory, however; some members of Kirk's academy class who cajoled Kirk in a lounge in TOS: "Court Martial" also wore the Enterprise patch. It would seem unlikely that Kirk's direct subordinates would take part in such a thing, classmate or no, so it least suggests they were assigned elsewhere, yet had the same patch.
In the alternate reality created by Nero's destruction of the USS Kelvin, assignment patches were done away with much sooner than in the prime timeline, with the Kelvin's patch becoming Starfleet's standard by the 2250s. (Star Trek)

External link

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