U.S. Space Force Flag Flies At The Inauguration

As the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States took place earlier today, eagle eye’d viewers noticed a new addition to the line-up when the presentation of colors took place. Joining the group of flags for the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard was the official flag for the U.S. Space Force. The flag was present not only while Biden was sworn in as the Commander-in-chief but could also be seen as Biden, Vice President Harris, and former presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton ventured into Arlington National Cemetery where Biden placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Started by former President Donald Trump midway through his presidency and has drawn some criticism in the time since it was officially unveiled to the world. Not only did The Office’s Steve Carell and Greg Daniels create a satirical TV series that poked fun at it around the time it was announced but celebrities have pointed out a number of similarities between Space Force uniform and logo designs that seem quite similar to other notable pop culture elements. Former Star Trek star George Takei previously joked about asking President Trump for royalties since the logo looked so similar to the Starfleet insignia from the popular franchise.

This wasn’t the first time that the US Space Force has called back to Star Trek though, though previously they’ve done it intentioanlly. It was previously reported that one of the units from the new branch of the military is named after a character from the original series. The 14th Air Force unit is being transferred from the Air Force to Space Force and will be renamed Space Operations Command or SPOC for short, a reference to Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan character from the original series.

According to the Air Force, “The SPOC provides space capabilities such as space domain awareness, space electronic warfare, satellite communications, missile warning, nuclear detonation detection, environmental monitoring, military intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, navigation warfare, command and control, and positioning, navigation and timing, on behalf of the USSF for USSPACECOM and other combatant commands.”

If you’re curious about the Space Force, you can see their official mission statement below.

“The USSF is a military service that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF responsibilities include developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.”

(Cover Photo by Greg Nash – Pool/Getty Images)