ECHELON logo (for the 'Burgers)

A few weeks back, Birmo asked what the logo for the ECHELON logo (featured in his book Without Warning) might look like. A lot of people came up with some good descriptions, but since I often have trouble with words of more than one syllable, I remembered that a picture is worth 1000 words. Therefore, I sat down and created a kiloword.

I sent the image to The Man Himself. Following is the description of the emblem:

I assume that Echelon could be multinational. I used a black/dark grey background to indicate 'operating from the shadows'. The dagger with stylized wings might recall the SAS or any of several special operations units around the world. The multiple lightning bolts of different colors might be taken from the US Army Special Forces logo, the multiple colors representing the flags of several nations. The stars along the left might also represent the countries/entities that contribute to Echelon and the stylized 'olive branch' on the right might represent 'working for the cause of peace'.



'In Cavda Venenum' I believe is Latin for 'The Tail Contains The Poison', which might suggest both a surveillance function, the ability to destroy as necessary, and the concept of a relatively small body (one person or a team) to do damage out of proportion to size.

JB seemed pleased enough with my concept.

Not a terrible image for an hour's work. I've asked to be Official Heraldist to the Realm. So far, no word. Reckon I shouldn't have asked for $ 3 million a year.

yankeedog out.