A Closer Look at New Missile Defense Agency Logo

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So who exactly thought that the new logo for the Missile Defense Agency that looks like an Islamic star and crescent at first glance was a good idea?

In the grand scheme of a things, given issues like healthcare reform, the economy and 10% unemployment, perhaps the new logo for the Missile Defense Agency isn’t exactly a big issue. And while conservatives and conspiracy theorists, birthers and truthers will see some intentional, nefarious subversive plot behind it where none exists, there is still the question of how something that looks so much like the star and crescent symbols of middle east countries like Turkey and the Palestinians didn’t catch the eye of someone in the Department of Defense.
Its a small thing with probably small consequences but can create a big embarrassment for the Adminsitration as well as the Defense Department, but also raises the question again of competence. To call it embarrassing is an understatement and makes you wonder who is minding the store but also whether they should be allowed to continue minding the store at all.

The design isn’t horrible ( as a forme award winning art director I feel qualified to pass judgement), but there are other motifs and design ideas that would have worked even better and the fact that it so closely resembles the star and crescent symbols should have been enough to kill it. Not because we have anything against Muslim countries but because it so closely resembles the symbols of other countries and that is not what we do.

Given how many people were needed to approve the design, in both rough form, and what is called comprehensive form before it was given a go ahead to finish, you just have to wonder who at the Department of Defense thought this was a good idea and how it worked its way up ladder without someone thinking, well, uh, maybe we ought not to use this. The result can only be seens as a “what were they thinking?” moment.

If the White House social secretary can be forced to resign over the party crashers, are heads going to roll over this design? And I dont mean the designer who created it who was simply using his or her sensibilities and perhaps didnt see the resemblance. But I mean the superiors who approved it.

There hasn’t been a big outcry against it only because so few people have seen it. But the more who do, the louder the reaction is going to be.

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