Pondering getting either this logo or this one on my car, like a bumper-sticker or something, along with a tag-line like "I'm Here To Help" split across two lines.
The original logo, without the under-writing, is the classic Civil Defense logo, which boils down to trying to be prepared to assist in a disaster.
drewkitty has a post explaining better than I can about the (relatively recent, 2006) retirement of the CD-in-a-triangle logo from US Government use.
CD was about citizens helping citizens until the government could get up to speed. You just pitch in and help in times of need, so to speak.
The new 'EM' logo is about 'get the hell out of the way, and let the professionals handle this, you're not trusted/vetted/trained enough to be of any use' so to speak.
The latter goes against centuries of real-world experience involving disasters of almost any scale, from something as relatively small as a car accident (people on the street bringing people trapped inside water, for instance, or helping them get out) to as complicated as the 9/11 towers (local/visiting mountaineers riding motorcycles to the site unasked, and bringing their gear to dive into the wreckage to look for survivors).
Hell, look at the handling of Katrina, with relief supplies blocked from reaching those that needed them by the 'professionals' that claimed it was too dangerous. Too dangerous for the Red Cross to bring in supplies, when it drives the very same supplies into active warzones every day in places around the world.
The under-written logo is a slight tweak that Drewkitty came up with, emphasizing part of the original CD idea, citizens pitching in in times of need. Ergo the re-naming to Citizen Defense instead of Civil Defense.
Well, I guess it's nice, but how many people are actually going to recognize it? I mean, I've never seen it before. Having it on your car won't get you any closer to helping out in disasters either way, it'll pretty much be an empty political gesture. Nothing wrong with that, I'm just not sure if you wanted it to be anything more than that.
Well that's the backstory behind the logo, which I think fits what I tend to do personally, and my personal political outlook regarding the abandonment of the logo itself.
Don't expect anyone else to get it, except some odd-ball geeks like myself though. It's mostly just an interesting-looking logo (to me) that'd be dirt-cheap to get as a bumper-sticker for $1 or $2, so was pondering getting it. =^.^=
The overall idea behind it is great, but I've honestly never seen the CD logo before. It's the same problem I'll run into when I get an ARES/RACES logo on my vehicle. I know what it means, but most people will just go 'huh' and ignore it. However, coupled with recent modifications (such as the dual high-intensity strobes) there is now far less doubt about the nature of the vehicle. So, the CD logo is a good idea..if you find another more physically obvious method to show that you're prepared to pitch in. Just my thought.
...and more about the intent behind the original logo, for the few old enough to appreciate it. I don't expect anyone younger than Mark Merlino's age to recognize the logo on sight, but I always thought it was a nifty logo, and now it's public-domain since the US Government abandoned all rights when they stopped using it themselves and dropped the logo. So... *yoink* for a buck or two at a local bumper-sticker-printing shop. =^.^=
Feel free to download either logo, they're .SVG files, so most vinyl-cutting places like at malls and what-not can cut you a decal from the files I posted. And if nothing else, load it into Illustrator, save as a .AI file.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-02 10:50 am (UTC)A bit of back-story here...
Date: 2007-12-02 12:16 pm (UTC)CD was about citizens helping citizens until the government could get up to speed. You just pitch in and help in times of need, so to speak.
The new 'EM' logo is about 'get the hell out of the way, and let the professionals handle this, you're not trusted/vetted/trained enough to be of any use' so to speak.
The latter goes against centuries of real-world experience involving disasters of almost any scale, from something as relatively small as a car accident (people on the street bringing people trapped inside water, for instance, or helping them get out) to as complicated as the 9/11 towers (local/visiting mountaineers riding motorcycles to the site unasked, and bringing their gear to dive into the wreckage to look for survivors).
Hell, look at the handling of Katrina, with relief supplies blocked from reaching those that needed them by the 'professionals' that claimed it was too dangerous. Too dangerous for the Red Cross to bring in supplies, when it drives the very same supplies into active warzones every day in places around the world.
The under-written logo is a slight tweak that Drewkitty came up with, emphasizing part of the original CD idea, citizens pitching in in times of need. Ergo the re-naming to Citizen Defense instead of Civil Defense.
Re: A bit of back-story here...
Date: 2007-12-02 12:18 pm (UTC)Re: A bit of back-story here...
Date: 2007-12-02 08:53 pm (UTC)Don't expect anyone else to get it, except some odd-ball geeks like myself though. It's mostly just an interesting-looking logo (to me) that'd be dirt-cheap to get as a bumper-sticker for $1 or $2, so was pondering getting it. =^.^=
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-02 06:21 pm (UTC)It's less about current-recognition of the logo...
Date: 2007-12-02 08:55 pm (UTC)Re: It's less about current-recognition of the logo...
Date: 2007-12-02 11:22 pm (UTC)Re: It's less about current-recognition of the logo...
Date: 2007-12-03 01:12 am (UTC)