Avatar Insignia, part 2 - arm patch insignia

Marine Pandora Mission Patch - right arm
Science sortie pilot Trudy Chacon

The visually stunning movie Avatar 2009 was an epic award winning science fiction film by James Cameroon. Humans have learned to travel to their closest neighboring star system - Alpha Centauri and a clash of planets occurs over precious resources.

Of vexillological interest are the military badges that humans wear on the right arm. It is a pentagonal shape. Divided in the center - the right half is red with a blue and white sphere. The left half is blue with several indiscernible markings.

Native Na'vi arm band rank - left arm

The natives of Pandora the Na'vi also employ an armband type of marking. However each person has their own design. To the right Jake Sully in this Na'vi body wears an arm band with two colourful 'feathers.'

Dances with Wolves - part 5, the shield of arms for Ten Bears

Lakota Shield painted by Ten Bears

One shield is clearly shown in Dances with Wolves 1990. The design of a shield has always been keen custom long before the formal development and institutionalization of heraldry.

It has a center pale partition, dexter azure, sinister gules, both sides are charged with dragon flies flying upwards following a wispy trail.

Avatar Insignia, part 1 - RDA

The Venture Star with RDA Corporate Logo

Audiences around the world whipped away to an imaginative tale about our neighboring star system - Alpha Centauri - by James Cameroon in Avatar 2009.

The story is set on an imaginary planet where the native blue skinned peoples live on resource that humans desperately want for it's high value. The RDA corporation uses remote control bodies to manipulate the natives off their 'sacred' land.

In RDA logo can be seen in several shots. The first time the logo of RDA corp. can be seen on a space ship above Pandora.

RDA Mining Truck on Pandora

In another shot the an RDA minning truck passes in front of Jake Sully - the hero of the story. The colours of RDA corp. are yellow, white, and navy blue. The logo consists of four circles - linked four petal flower. The chief and base discs are yellow. On the sinister side is a navy blue disc and on the dexter side is a white disc with a blue outer ring.

Official Logo of RDA - Resources Development Adminstration

Never Ending Story, part 2 - arms of the fallen kinght

First Gate of the Southern Oracle

The Never Ending Story 1984 is an inspirational fairytale movie for children and adults. In it a builled boy who likes to read skips class to read a book that opens the door to fantasia.

In one scene our hero - Atreyu - must pass the first test of the Southern Oracle which a person must pass trough. Essentially to cross this rift one must have the purest of intentions and complete confidence from within and look death in the eye while continuing on.

Close up of the knights shield of arms

Before Atreyu attempts to pass through, a knight in shining armor tries and fails. Atreyu must then pass by looking death in the eye and continue on his journey. The knight with shining armor has a coat of arms. It is a regular bend partition dexter gules sinister azure. Each partition is charged with a lion rampant facing dexter.

link to part 3

Never Ending Story, part 1- the AURYN, a Badge for Fantasia

first appearance of the AURYN

The film the Never Ending Story 1984 is based on a story written by Michael Ende of Germany in 1979. In it a bullied little boy learns about the power of fantasia and unlimited bounty of imagination. The movie is a story within a story that even hints at the presence of the audience.

The world of Fantasia is under attack by a fear mongering entity known as the Nothing. The Nothing preys upon people without dreams so they can be controlled. When people live without dreams they become virtual zombies and give away their power to the empty soulless power hungry Nothing.

Thus if you think you have been bitten by a zombie and may be infected, find a dream - find it fast and never let it go! A Luck Dragon will find you, believe me!

Atreyu is chosen to save Fantasia

The badge of the chosen hero is the AURYN. The AURYN is similar to an ouroboros - a snake that is eating its own tail. But in The Never Ending Story the AURYN is composed of two snakes symmetrically intertwined and chasing or latched upon each others tail. The upper snake is gold and the lower snake is green in inner fantasia - the fantasy world of a fantasy.

But in Bastian's universe the AURYN is found as a monochrome decorative seal on the book he borrowed.

Link to part 2 of this thread

Yin and Yang with Heraldry - Goonies 'R' Good Enough by Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper holding a box
with a typical Modern American Heraldic Shield

An appropriate anthem and video for the economic climate of 2011 could be Goonies 'R' Good Enough 1984 by Cindy Lauper. The video is based on the movie Goonies 1984. In the video Cyndi's Mom and Pop Gas Station that gives "cookies while you wait" is visited by their cheating creditors.

In the beginning of the video Cyndi is seen carrying a box with a heraldic shield on it. The shield is typical of modern American Corporate design - azure fess argent. In the Chief is reads "PEERLESS." There is other indiscernible text in the base and argent fess.

Smiley and Frownie Face Badge

In the video creditors or bad guys all wear a frownie badge. The frownie-bad guys included Rowdy Roddy Piper, the Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkof, and Freddie Blassie.

On the good guy-home team with smiley face badge is Captain Lou Albano, Cindy Lauper, Dave, and Wendy. The smiley and frownie face badges ranged in colours from red to yellow.

The economic strain put on Cyndi and her friends is a certain reality that many Americans and people all around the world feel right now as of 2011. Thousands of families have lost their homes and hundreds of business small and large have become memories - Borders, Circuit City, etc...

Video Goonie 'R' Good Enough 1984

Confederate Flag and Cyndi Lauper

Notice Confederate and American Flags

Cyndi Lauper's She Bop topped the Billboard Charts in the spring of 1984. The song was off her She So Unsusual album. The song's controversial nature subsequently was reinforced with a wave of the Confederate Flag in her video.

As Cyndi leaves her car she meets the hunky and bad boy biker wearing a Confederate Flag. It can be seen on the upper left side of his jacket. On the other side is the American Flag.

Beef Cake Biker Gang

The icon of the fanciful Beef Cake Biker gang consists of a four pointed yellow crown with three black trapezoids.

The director of the video associates rough and tumble biker gangs with the Confederate Flag - at least controversially.




She Bop Video from 1984