Hidden Meanings of the Romulan Logo

[@luiszuniga2859]

"Consider it. The great symbol of the Empire... But the bird-of-prey holds planets. Romulus, Remus. Their destinies conjoined..." -Shinzon

[@aqdrobert]

Sela: When we explore strange new worlds, and seek out new life and civilizations, we give them the bird.

[@zeehero7280]

Sela gives things the bird just by existing lol. She's an obnoxious person 😂 Of course it's only due to a talented actress that she can be such an annoying character! Definitely a great performance.

[@johnarthurlawrence4860]

😂

[@LordHayden86]

I've seen theories saying that the Original Series symbol was meant to show the cooperation between the Klingons and Romulans when they were trading technology. That symbol was later dropped when the two stopped working together

[@goransekulic3671]

This is what I thought too. No idea what the yellow and black hexagons(?) are supposed to represent though.

[@tristanmendoza4628]

@@goransekulic3671 They had lots of funny Trek ideas before Motion Picture too... there is a picture of the mirror Enterprise in one of the old copies of Star Trek Concordance or something else that has a Constitution class ship on top merged with a Klingon ship on the bottom that someone came up with, sharing the secondary hull. That would have been pre 1979

[@d.b.4671]

Monte Thrasher, designer of the Romulan emblem: "See, it looks like it's striking from the shadows if you put it on a black background." Paramount: "Cool. We will now proceed to never use the emblem on a black background unless we outline it in white." Thrasher: "No, wait, I didn't draw the scapular feathers!--ah, biscuits. Now everyone's gonna think it's a f___ed-up bat thing."

[@kimarous]

The commentary about raptors reminds me of something from a field trip as a kid to a more rural area. The main guide asks we kids what we thought "raptor" meant. Me, big into dinosaurs at the time, raised my hand and said "Terrible Claw?" Excited, the seated man leaps to his feet: "OOH! OOH! Ah, sorry. Actually, it means 'to grasp'." I was simultaneously startled by his initial reaction and felt like a smartypants.

[@djfmitv]

Keep going with stuff like this - there's always things to talk about in ST lore

[@Tyrael112]

Agree completely, many of us haven't made it to this level of mostly canon lore yet. This was a welcome surprise.

[@Nom_AnorVSJedi]

The emblem of the Obsidian Order is pretty cool, asymmetrical and sinister.

[@DrAnarchy69]

Classic Fascism: cool imagery horrible everything else

[@saalkz.a.9715]

Just like the...

[@devinsweeting4978]

I'm surprised you didn't touch on the Romulan Republic Logo. How it evolved from the old one. Symbolizing the memory of the past, but still looking towards the future.

[@subcommanderxelios800]

The Republic Emblem looks like a pheonix rising from the ashes, still holding the orbs representing Romulus and Remus as a memory.

[@devinsweeting4978]

@@subcommanderxelios800 Exactly

[@zeehero7280]

@@subcommanderxelios800 Their culture is something worth preserving. the oppressive government and fear is not.

[@subcommanderxelios800]

@@zeehero7280 I think the Romulans are reverse representation of the Romans. The Romulans went from being an autocracy to a democracy of sorts.

[@LARGO125]

In my mind, this was always a missed scene opportunity in DS9. The Romulan entry to the Dominion war should've had a scene where a Dominion fleet was massacring a SF/KDF fleet, only to have about 30 D'Deridex and Valdore class warbirds decloak directly behind the Dominion lines, and strafe through them at top speed, absolutly wrecking the Dominion lines with disruptors and heavy plasma torpedoes.

[@LARGO125]

And could you imagine if the leader of the Romulan strike wing was Commander Tomaluk?

[@Culdcepter]

I like it already. @@LARGO125

[@chrisortega7521]

Tomaluk and Sela would've wrecked. I like your idea. Too bad we can't remake some battles for the original episodes.

[@zlamanit]

That timing would be another “convenient” moment, and would require somebody from DS9 to be shown in that fleet for more than just the battle. While a cool scene, it’d take away from the episode focused on Sisko’s story.

[@12oshinko]

The Romulans are my fave. They just need a Garak-level character

[@daveh7720]

I'm interested in heraldry, so this video is a welcome addition. (But then so are most of your videos.) I confess I got a chuckle out of Star Trek Online's variation on the raptor symbolism of the Romulan Republic as they began to build out New Romulus. There are figurines everywhere depicting a much simplified bird, with wings raised but no worlds in its talons. Also, the head is raised up and the beak looks wider than that of a raptor. I think it looks like a duck landing on a pond, which prompted me to think of the peaceful Romulan Republic as "those who march beneath the mallard's wings."

[@UGNAvalon]

Well mallards _Do_ have “blood green” heads.. ;D

[@daveh7720]

@@UGNAvalonAn excellent point!

[@poolhall9632]

I've been a Star Trek fan, my entire life, 40 years now. I never realized that the *bird of prey* ship looks like a striking raptor. Amazing. 🤯

[@rickyevans2697]

Romulans are my second favorite Star Trek race, right after the Ferengi! Love this video!!!

[@uss_04]

Always wondered about the Romulan symbology and bird motif

[@davecortie5579]

I enjoy hearing you talk about the Romulan. Their lore feels like it's so spread out and they are so obfuscated, that it is difficult to grasp it all. Sure, I could read the Memory Alpha/Beta content myself, but I enjoy hearing a story.

[@HilarityBribo]

I always assumed it was because of the roman eagle. Pretty sure Romulus was based off a Rome.

[@Marinealver]

Beat me to it.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Remus and Romulus. The mythical founders of Rome. Vulcan, a theoretical planet closer to the sun than Mercury, that was proposed to exist due to issues with Mercury's orbit that were fixed when Einstein discovered General Relativity.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

"Pretty sure"

[@amazedsatsuma]

9:43 I think the 2 orbs the 32nd symbol talons are holding represent Romulans and Vulcans finally being reunited as the people of Ni'var...afterall the symbol is now part of Vulcan identity too and they have no attachment to Romulus and Remus.

[@ArtistryBranson]

Ric, personally, just about any Trek topic you have considered covering, I'd like to hear what you have to say on said topic. Yeah, I know, I sound like a fan boy. Truth is, I enjoy your take, your delivery and writing style. And more info on Trek is always an enjoyable time for me. Take your top 10 ideas and run with em. We'll thank you for it.

[@VexTibbetts]

On a technical heraldic note, in real world heraldry the 'blade-like' version of the emblem would only be seen as a different realisation of the same design as the blazon would not be different. The changing aesthetic but same underlying design is informative as stated. Loved the video. Would certainly be happy to see more Trek Heraldry (though appreciate it's something of a personal passion!)

[@EthanKristopherHartley]

Really interesting take Rick, thank you! (I always assumed that it was because their ships were called birds of prey and the choice of the face-on look was because it mirrors their forehead ridges - the most noticeable differentiator between the Romulans and Vulcans. But your explanation makes more sense. 😁)

[@Hrafnskald]

Great video. One of the things I love about Trek is the way it explores alternate cultures and worldviews, and the consequences of these. Romulans may be an adversary, but they have an interesting story. In one dimensional worldbuilding, everyone would naturally and universally embrace the idealistic changes of Surak, and society would shift in lockstep to the call of Utopia. That Trek went down a different route, with some rejecting the massive changes Surak pushed and breaking off from the Vulcans, is an interesting nuance. This video might be an outlier, but it fits perfectly into your exploration of cultures of Trek. Keep up the good work :)

[@dayus5772]

symbology can be just as, to coin a phrase, fascinating as a breakdown or a tech or ship, it can give us far deeper insight into a species ways of thinking then looking a the products of said species. please do more i love digging just that much farther into the lore!

[@adamglenn5477]

More of these please Rick. Love the designs of the Drexel. My Romulan Captain has one. It moves like a brick, but it is gprgeous. Als, I really do appreciate the work you and you team put into these great videos.

[@tassadro]

I'd like to see the klingon emblem explained

[@donaldalessio7580]

Man I love all your breakdowns this was very awesome keep up the great work

[@DeaconBlu]

Cool vid. I’ve always been a big fan of the Romulans. Thanks mate!

[@UGNAvalon]

I love it when worldbuilders use symbology & heraldry to tell a story about a culture & its history! 😄 Thanks for the deep dive! Looking forward to more!

[@chrisbritt4266]

The rhymes have always been one of my favorite factions in star trek outside of starflight and I love the symbols they have.

[@sleepingbackbone7581]

Yes, wouldn't mind watching more of your videos about "backstage" lore elements like this one. They certainly cary a lot of interesting facts rather unknown to most of us. So, feel free to make more. :)

[@k1esther1w]

I really enjoyed this and would love more content like this

[@quoniam426]

5:37 On the right, the design of the Romulan warbird you didn't talk about, the very curvy and elegant one, my favorite one by far. (the Nemesis one that was repurposed for those ENT episodes).

[@Skyfire_The_Goth]

You mean the Mogai class warbird?

[@thatrealba]

Defo a good video. Pretty much any kind of breakdown is going to be good. I'd like to see the lore behind self-sealing stem bolts.

[@dramonmaster222]

Interesting breakdown on a well known symbol.

[@nielsmichiels1939]

As a guy who for fun designs logos this was a verry fun video, would love a video about the other factions logos.

[@lshawn7925]

I was fascinated by this video and learned a lot. Thank you for creating and presenting it! Have you done a video on the Vulcan IDIC? If you have, I will need to find it. If not, then I look forward to that video. 🖖🏻

[@earnestbrown6524]

10:16 Yes, there is much too appreciate about Romulans.

[@yetinother]

Loved the logo breakdown

[@ColeHomestead]

as always - a great video Rick!

[@davida.2947]

Very cool breakdown. Thanks man

[@Nachtschattenmoon]

😊 thx for this video, I wondered all time where this came from ❤ love it.

[@ArchOfWinter]

As a fan of logo designs, this is great!

[@horusrage]

I think the Romulan Star Empire is summed up pretty well in its intro for Birth of the Federation 4x game by microprose. Misdirection is the key to survival. Never attack what your enemy defends. Never behave as your enemy expects. And never reveal your true strength. If knowledge is power. Then to be unknown is to be unconquerable. Romulans are one of my favourite Star Trek enemies. Love playing as one in STO & having warbirds to play with.

[@rizrhys1]

I truly enjoyed this video.

[@IanWatson]

The TOS-era symbol (production-wise, anyway) was designed for The Enterprise Incident. In Season 3 they were cutting a lot of corners, so the plot had them reusing the Klingon battlecruiser -- I think the original Romulan bird of prey model from Balance of Terror had already been lost by that time. The low resolution of TV at the time meant that viewers would probably be able to see the symbol of the Klingon empire on the exterior shots of the model, but probably not in any detail. The Klingon empire symbol had a yellow circle in the middle, with three triangular "blades" of red, blue, and green. So the TOS Romulan Empire symbol was intentionally designed (yellow hexagon, three lobes of red, blue, and green) such that the Klingon symbol on the ship model could easily be mistaken for the Romulan symbol seen throughout the interior shots. A nice bit of creative problem-solving.

[@versebuchanan512]

I remember making the realization that the sigils claws were holding Romulus and Remus on my own one time as a kid and like, having to wait to go to school the next day to try to get to a computer with an Internet connection to see if I was right or if I was stupid. God I'm old.

[@Obssy]

Great video, full of fascinating details. Thank you!

[@MrJcn89]

Loved it! I need to read those books again

[@feralprocessor9853]

Right off the bat, montage of spaceships and spacestations.

[@lezking5060]

Thanks for n interesting video. I'm primary a "ship guy", but there is a lot of world-building in Star Trek, so it's good to learn about some of that!

[@andrefricke9998]

Great video!

[@jolan_tru]

Extremely interesting video, loved it to bits! ... Maybe I'm biased, though...

[@ErickJeffries]

I really liked this video!

[@cpproxy]

Thanks love the breakdown 😉

[@kristofbe1]

Interesting video. Now I'm curious about the origins of the Klingon logo.

[@TitusW]

Never thought about the fact that their ships being green like their blood means that to Romulans and Vulcans their ships would be their psychological equivalent to blood red

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

Much like a certain Earth empire's military uniforms

[@NewGameTag]

Have you ever done a video on the Na'kuhl from Enterprise?

[@jetfire1153red]

6:04 this version of the Romulan logo is also A mirror image of the previous one.

[@BranRidire]

As a proud Romulan Republic player, I HATE the idea of the Romulans and Vulcans reunifying and hope STO never takes us down that road.

[@rifleman2c997]

I honestly was sold on the idea that the republic was about freedom. Freedom to maintain who the Romulans are, then Freedom from the star empire. The republic should stand for such, not a return to the shackles of vulcan.

[@occultatumquaestio5226]

It is clearly and repeatedly stated in STO that the origins of the Romulan Republic stem from the Vulcan-Romulan Reunification movement and there is the long-term goal of eventually reuniting, but from a position of strength rather than of pity. In TNG we even see a young D'Tan as one of Spock's students/followers. And the STO mission "Time and Tide" shows that the Romulans do eventually join the UFP sometime between 2412 & 2769.

[@Roxor128]

@@occultatumquaestio5226 Doesn't have to be all at once, either. Seems pretty plausible that in the wake of the empire's collapse, some worlds close to Federation space might apply for membership rather than risk conquest from more militant factions of the former empire, or from the Klingons, because conquering some of their former rival's systems would be an opportunity too good to pass up.

[@BlazingOwnager]

Awesome video and yes, I'd love more videos like this one. It's not all starships. ALSO.. KZbin unsubbed me from your channel. I thought you hadn't been putting out videos for a while. Getting really sick of YT doing that..

[@Revkor]

you missed one. there is the alternate logo from nemesis . you got one but there was another one as well

[@Buddy74656]

Very much enjoyed.

[@drguykss]

In regards to the tal shiar symbol it seems that more emphasis is placed on Romulus than it is on Remus when it comes to the orbs. That is assuming of course the green side is still Romulus and the blue side is still Remus.

[@montecorbit8280]

Yes I enjoyed it. No, I would not mind seeing more like this....

[@play030]

Thank you for all you do. Please do a video on your crew.

[@Numba003]

Thank you for making videos like this. So much of good worldbuilding lies in imbuing small but important details like this with meaning and significance. This was well discussed! God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)

[@Kian2002]

What interests me about the Romulans is why they exhibit no telepathic abilities? Another reason why they might have fled Vulcan: they were tactically disadvantaged by not possessing Psi powers. Equally, there's a possibility that the Vulcan warring factions were split into three: those who marched beneath the Raptor's Wing; the Psi proficients that developed the Stone of Gol and other telepathic weapons; those who followed Surak's teachings (Kolinahr) that was the effective defence against the negative emotion amplifying gestalt weapons. I agree that when peace came to Vulcan the surviving proto-Romulans had no place there but only because they'd already been tactically defeated by the others who opposed them; likely both principle warring factions were exhausted by war and Surak's followers took advantage of that state to tip the political balance towards peace?

[@NCC-72545A]

If you get enough likes, you know you're gonna have to make a whole series on emblems in Star Trek. Although i'm spicy, you didn't mention the Romulan Republic emblem from Star Trek online.

[@originaluddite]

On the topic of all those things that are called raptors - one thing that is crazy to me is genetics now tells us that falcons are more closely related to parrots than they are to hawks.

[@roneyeam]

This was great

[@BThings]

Have you done a video on the origin of the Klingon emblem?

[@rifleman2c997]

I like the emblem of the romulan republic. Then again I am biased as I think romulans get the best looking ships in STO. Fight me.

[@markbernero9302]

I definitely agree!

[@notlosman]

Love it Rick! 🤟

[@theraptorstalon7589]

Personally, my favorite of the Romulan logos is the Romulan Republic version. Granted I am biased, but I always thought it had a far more hopeful look to it. Sure it acknowledged Romulus and Remus, but looked like the raptor was looking forward (up) towards the future.

[@joseaguilar3323]

Man, Ni'Var is the coolest concept introduced in Discovery but they never get into it. I hope that Academy series dives DEEP into it

[@vasyear]

No it's not

[@joseaguilar3323]

@@vasyear K.

[@vasyear]

The 10c aliens were better

[@joseaguilar3323]

@@vasyear That Arrival style plot was pretty great, yeah

[@vasyear]

@@joseaguilar3323 the story was ok at very best. The Giant Alien that comunicate with smells (i think) it was a good and cool idea

[@bellaususfitzpinguidpalate8732]

Aaah... Romulans. They're so predictably... Romulan. 🤔

[@voduroklethea5683]

What i wonder is, what happened to the Remans after the Romulans and Vulcans came together again.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

Did any Remans even survive the destruction of Romulus and Remus? All the evacuations seemed to have focused on saving the Romulans and I don't think there's been any canon appearances of Remans after 2387 :/

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

I hope they did survive bc if they didn't that'd be EXTREMELY messed up that the slave race just got entirely genocided and no one cared but not the biggest oversight in the lore either :\

[@RoonMian]

This is me shedding a tear for Diane Duane's beautiful Romulan backstory that was rendered non-canon by "Star Trek X: Tom Hardy and the Fish People" 😢

[@IndieLambda]

Wild speculation just for fun: The lettering isn't nonsense, it's a cypher, if you're not in the know, you can't figure out what it sais, because you're not supposed to. Knowing Romulan isn't enough to read it, you have to Be, Romulan, to read it.

[@federiconoguera1162]

What about the other logo where the wings are more raised? Or is that a logo exclusive to the romulan republic

[@saalkz.a.9715]

For some (weird) reason I always thought the writing above their symbol means "My life for the empire".

[@sydneysmith1521]

You would think that, over the time during the journey to the Beta Quadrant, and the time the Romulans had before contact with the Federation; they would have made changes to the raptor lest the Vulcans 'connect the dots' the figure out who they are.

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

Remus was always under THE BATMAN’s Wing!

[@Thyana-ig5no]

Raptors are for me a group of dinosaurs called Dromaeosauridae So when looking on the romulan symbol, i always think: look, a dinosaur-like bird of prey

[@housecoatgaming]

Because they were 'those who walked beneath the raptor's wings'. The two planets are Romulus and Remus. There you go. All you need to know about the emblem of the now-defunct Romulan Star Empire.

[@TheFlyWahine]

Embelems? But interesting to hear about there logo.

[@jlalejos]

I assumed the blue half was for the Tal Shiar because the emblem existed before the Remans maybe it was a recon when Remans were invented?

[@SOTURICAT]

I love Romulan history!

[@randyranderson690]

The Romulan script translates as: Through guile and stealth, we strike and are made strong

[@berthulf]

My favourite is the almost celebratory Republic raptor

[@grahamturner1290]

🖖

[@evanwoods7270]

The Nevar logo is bringing Vulcan and Romulas together.

[@narniaphuket]

there's a hidden logo at 1:08 dead center

[@vincewilson1]

Before watching your video I will say that the Romulans are "those that walk beneath the Raptors wing" this saying was created right after the sundering on the planet Vulcan. I thought every Trekkie or Trekker Knew that.

[@feralprocessor9853]

Vulcans liked triangles, the more you know.

[@CathrineMacNiel]

Wait, those orbs were supposed to be Planets? I always thought the banner showed some sort of Goblin and not a Bird.

[@baronOdaighre]

All this time I thought the symbol was a two-headed bird

[@Hazmatt4700]

Great breakdown. All those buzzards have to fear is our cloaking excelsior's and their heavy bombardment torpedoes. But it keeps them mostly inline.

[@Marinealver]

Eagle, Rome. Although I would loke to know what the old TOS logo means. It has the same colors as the TOS Klingon symbol.

[@littlekong7685]

In my head cannon it is possibly a house symbol, something you would put beneath the raptor symbol, elevated by an imperial leader to be the external symbol for galactic "diplomacy".

[@joshuahillerup4290]

In hindsight I wonder if something more owl like would have worked better for the Romulans

[@DoctorX17]

I wonder if, perhaps, the text is from an old form of Romulan that is so old it's not translatable into the Romulan we have translations for; like how Latin can sortof look like English because it's one of the roots, but some Latin just doesn't translate? Like if you were trying to go from English to Japanese but really it's Latin to Japanese is what you need -- maybe it's proto-Romulan and not equal to current Romulan.