Posted on 04/01/2019 7:27:41 AM PDT by PROCON
Army National Guard recruiting materials will no longer feature the traditional armed Minute Man logo, opting for a more sedate branding. (Photos: National Guard Bureau)
Gone is the traditional flintlock rifle and armed citizen soldier, a move one publication chalked up in part to “no tolerance” policies on the display of images of firearms in schools.
The familiar National Guard Seal and Emblem has long featured a likeness of the famous Concord Minute Man statue in Concord, Massachusetts. The statue, first unveiled in 1875 by sculptor Daniel Chester French, symbolizes the local militia that stood to in an effort to halt the British Army’s 1775 seizure of arms and powder that sparked the Revolutionary War. The man, a farmer rather than a soldier, is holding a flintlock in his right hand while his left hand is still resting on a plow. The National Guard holds that its history predates the country, stemming from the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia which was founded in 1636.
The previous design, last approved by the Army in 1989, was used as far back as the 1950s in similar forms. However, it was recently phased out for most applications in favor of a new “brand identity” for all 54 States, Territories and the District of Columbia. The new logo, a gold star on a black background that simply says “Army National Guard,” was adopted according to the branch to more closely tie the service to the U.S. Army in the public’s mind in recruiting materials.
“Research shows that the public, and even active duty service members, are often unsure of the Army National Guard’s relationship to the U.S. Army,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Warren, branch chief of marketing for the National Guard Bureau’s Strength Maintenance Division. “The rebrand makes it clear that the Army National Guard is part of the Army.”
According to Small Wars Journal, a Bethesda, Maryland-based organ of the non-profit Small Wars Foundation, which analyses modern military conflict, the move stems from a “failure of the American Public Education system,” due to poor knowledge of the original symbol’s meaning.
“Furthermore, due to ‘no tolerance’ policies concerning the display of images of firearms in schools, the traditional Minuteman logo could not be displayed due to inclusion of an 18th-century flintlock rifle,” said Franklin C. Annis for SWJ. “Now the National Guard will be represented by a lackluster shield-shaped black logo with white and gold lettering.”
Nothing that I said indicated that the National Guard wasn’t part of the militia - in fact, I quoted from the US Code, which (still) indicates as it did in the 1980s that the NG is considered the “Organized Militia.”
BTW, the fact that the unorganized militia has not been called up, or even well-regulated (i.e. trained) in over 100 years is utterly irrelevant from a Constitutional perspective. The militia has never been written out of the Constitution, and likely never will be...which means that everything in our law about it still applies, even if you and 100 million other people think that it is obsolete.
I am also very well aware that the Perpich case stated that the NG of each state was under the command of its governor until and unless it was federalized...where did I ever state otherwise?
Your attempts to dismiss the unorganized militia are utterly contrary to not only still-valid law, but to the Constitution itself.
WTF!
If he’s a white guy he’s good as gone.
Does Trump know about this ? It sounds like something Obama would do.
What a Crock!
Turning men into weenies one way or the other.
Sure hope this is a joke.
No joke. I saw the results of it last night.
If you watched American Idol, you did, too.
It was in Hawaii where a contestant looked up to see a military jet fly over. He said, “That scares me. Is there a military base near here?”
A producer said, “Well, yes. Pearl Harbor.”
“Pearl Harbor? I thought that was just a movie.”
Not a joke. Already implimented.
Thank you for knowing our national history. So few do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.