Donald Trump unveils new logo for Space Force, outraged 'Star Trek' fans call him out for plagiarism
On Friday, January 24, President Donald Trump unveiled the new logo for the Space Force, America's newest branch of the military, and it looks a lot like the emblem for the Starfleet command from the show 'Star Trek'.
Starfleet, a space force through which various species conduct deep space exploration, research, defense, peacekeeping, and diplomacy, is a fictional organization controlled by the United Federation of Planets in the 'Star Trek' franchise that began in the 1960s.
Social media had a field day mocking Trump and pointing out the striking resemblance between the two symbols. Some also called him out for plagiarism and intellectual property theft.
"Starfleet called. They want their insignia back," tweeted one Twitter user. "The only difference here is that the Space Force will be more like Spaceballs instead of Starfleet," another user tweeted.
"Ahem. We are expecting some royalties from this..." George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek TV series, quipped. He also tweeted, "I feel like Melania must have had a hand in copyi- I mean, designing this."
During the Republican National Convention in the summer in 2016, Melania Trump gave a speech that bore several similarities to remark delivered by Michelle Obama during her address before the Democratic National Committee in Denver in 2008.
On Saturday, January 24, the Space Force debuted its new utility uniform and service nametape. "The first #SpaceForce utility uniform nametapes have touched down in the Pentagon," tweeted @SpaceForceDoD.
The lack of a cosmic-themed uniform received a lot of criticism. "How many trees are you expecting to find in space?" author James Felton tweeted. "Camo in space? WTF? More wasted tax dollars. Great job!" tweeted a user.
"Sorry for the question but why do we need camo in space?" said another. To which, Space Force responded from the official Twitter, "We don't. Space Operators are on the ground, on Earth working with joint partners like the @usairforce and @USArmy. Hence utilizing their uniform."