Military Unit Logos

"Back in Philadelphia, a group of Marine units were being organized to try to capture British arms shipments. [Benjamin] Franklin noticed that one of their drummers had painted a rattlesnake on his drum emblazoned with the words "Don't tread on me." In an anonymous article, filled with bold humor and a touch of venom, Franklin suggested that this should be the symbol and motto of America's fight. The rattlesnake, Franklin noted, had no eyelids, and "may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance." It also never initiated and attack nor surrendered once engaged, and "is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage."

-- From Walter Isaacson's "Benjamin Franklin, An American Life"

A few years ago I was doing photo research at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. I was talking with one of the employees when I noticed a poster hanging on the wall that looked strangely familiar. It was a logo for a Marine fighter squadron. On it was a cartoon bulldog with angel wings sitting on a cloud throwing lightning down on the enemy-the good guys vanquishing the bad guys. At first I thought somebody out there was emulating me - or at least my artwork. I had been doing similar unit logos for Marine units since my platoon sergeant ordered me to create a design for our platoon when I was a lance corporal. As I got closer to the poster, I saw in the right hand corner the famous signature of Walt Disney. The poster had been created almost thirty years before I was born.

As it turns out, during World War II the Walt Disney company did over 1200 unit insignia for military units. Growing up, watching Disney films influenced my artistic development, and the work of the Disney Company made Disney's style culturally pervasive throughout the military. Hence, Walt Disney had a hand in creating my ability - and in the military I create art for - the demand for it. I was not so original as I once thought. Disney left his mark first.