Klingon rank symbols

[Kehlan]

I have seen in various places, symbols which are used to denote Klingon rank  (whether they are canon or not is a different story.)  What I am trying to find out, is whether there is any symbol that could be used to denote a Klingon ambassador?

Can anyone help with this?

Kehlan

[qoSagh]

Other than the color coding established by I believe KLAW (and by extension KLAW 4th Fleet) that uses the same rank insignia as the Military, I only know of one symbol. Way back in my Karizan days we used a Klingon pin that is worn on the front the Neck Armor to denote diplomatic service. Once this started getting used by Paraborg on a wide variety of costumes it kind of lost that meaning. We always called it the "butter cookie" but it is the silver multi sided on with the tlhIngan glyph in the center. I do not know the roots of this being called diplomatic but I do know that General Chang wore one and he was most certainly not an Ambassador.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

I have seen in various places, symbols which are used to denote Klingon rank  (whether they are canon or not is a different story.)  What I am trying to find out, is whether there is any symbol that could be used to denote a Klingon ambassador?

Can anyone help with this?

Kehlan

This is the insignia we use currently for the Ambassadorial Branch of Service:



Pardon the relatively "Rough" nature of the drawing, but you get the idea.

Also, one of the first pins I purchased after joining K.L.A.W. 4th Fleet, was this one:



(This particular PIC comes off of the NMP site)…

When I asked a more senior club member of its significance, I was told that it was an Ambassadorial Pin. I have met many other members of different clubs who claim the same, though where it originated I have never been able to track down. There are also some variants floating around out there as well.

maj! {Good}...

[Kehlan]

That circular one is exactly what I was looking for.

thank you

Kehlan

[Qunchuy]

This is the insignia we use currently for the Ambassadorial Branch of Service:

For the benefit of those who do not read pIqaD, the characters are q D ch. With the typical mapping of ASCII characters to Klingon font, that corresponds to K D C. It's obviously intended to be someone's rendition of the Klingon Diplomatic Corps' initials. The filename of the image seems to agree.

The "butter cookie" has a gh character. That might be a random selection by the costume designer, or it might have some significance: the noun ghar in Klingon means diplomacy.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

Qunchuy is quite correct,

the pIqaD shown in the image I posted was assigned to these pins quite some time ago, and is the rough translitteration of 'KDC' (Klingon Diplomatic Corps) as is/was used by us at the time that the branch insignia was created. (Early 90's)

If one were going to create a more accuarate pIqaD rendering one might use the "Official" KLI pIqaDmey font type using the characters X (tlh) G (gh) for tlhIngan gharwI' {Klingon Diplomat}*

This would look like this:



maj! {Good}...

gharwI' = Diplomat, per TKD Pg. 128.

[qarSuv]

I think that the "tlhIngan" part is superfluous - if it's pIqaD, even if worn by a non-Klingon, it's obviously Klingon. So the gh is enough. I like the red-black color scheme, it stands out to let people know who the diplomat(s) is/are in a particular group . If one wears this on the Branch of Service side of the collar,  the "normal" rank can be worn on the other side, whatever color it may have.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

I think that the "tlhIngan" part is superfluous - if it's pIqaD, even if worn by a non-Klingon, it's obviously Klingon. So the gh is enough. I like the red-black color scheme, it stands out to let people know who the diplomat(s) is/are in a particular group . If one wears this on the Branch of Service side of the collar,  the "normal" rank can be worn on the other side, whatever color it may have.

You raise a good point, and one which has certainly been brought up in the past as well. Namely, we do not say I am a "Human" diplomat, so why would a Klingon say "I am a Klingon Diplomat."

In that sense I tend to agree with the tlhIngan {Klingon} element being ultimately unecessary. Perhaps Imperial Diplomat? I know Empire is wo', though I do not know if there is a dedicated word for 'Imperial'. I am guessing that context would be the key here, so gharwI' wo' (Diplomat of the Empire) might be the solution for a more proper title?

Regardless, it may be some time before K.L.A.W. 4th Fleet gets around to updating such a point, and we'll likely keep using the old one (KDC) for the moment.

The Red on Black color scheme has been used by us from early on, but I think that it got some support once ST: VI came out, since these were the  colors worn by Gorkon. It may be that those were meant to be his house colors or some such, but it all seemed to "Fit" together nicely.

As to the rank, we use the same rank symbols for each branch, being differentiated only by the corresponding color schemes. The rank symbols themselves come directly from FASA and reflect a more or less equivalent pay-grade between the branches of service.

For those who may be interested/ curious, our service branch colors are:

Clergy - Green on Black.
KDC - Red on Black.
Marines - Black on Red.
Navy - Black on Gold.

maj! {Good}...

[Qunchuy]

If one were going to create a more accuarate pIqaD rendering one might use the "Official" KLI pIqaDmey font type using the characters X (tlh) G (gh) for tlhIngan gharwI' {Klingon Diplomat}*

Going by the model of tlhIngan Hubbeq Klingon Defense Force (found in the Addendum of The Klingon Dictionary), I suggest that tlh gh b for tlhIngan ghar beq would be a good rendition of Klingon Diplomatic Corps.

tlhIngan Klingon
Hub defend (apparently used as the noun defense in some compounds)
ghar diplomacy
beq crew

In that sense I tend to agree with the tlhIngan {Klingon} element being ultimately unecessary. Perhaps Imperial Diplomat? I know Empire is wo', though I do not know if there is a dedicated word for 'Imperial'. I am guessing that context would be the key here, so gharwI' wo' (Diplomat of the Empire) might be the solution for a more proper title?

wo' empire works fine for the "Imperial" idea. But the proper word order would be wo' gharwI' Empire's Diplomat or Diplomat of the Empire.

[qoSagh]

If the gh alone is sufficient then that is probably the roots behind the "butter cookie" medalion, as that is the sole letter inside the symbol. I personally like the idea of just using diplomat, since anything written in tlhIngan Hol is likely intended more for the Klingon audience than for any other race, including humans. That would make the word tlhIngan redundant, and I just don't see the Empire doing much redundancy in such areas.

[Kehlan]

No, I don't think it is redundant.  In a room full of ambassadors, one might easily say "I am the Klingon ambassador to the Federation"

While it could be argued that since the speaker is obviously Klingon, it does not make the word redundant - there have been more than one Klingon after all, serving as Feddie ambassador to the Klingons.

And when you talk about an embassy, you talk aout the Klingon embassy or the French embassy or whatever.  just saying "Embassy" could mean anything

Kehlan

[voraq]

I see where Kehlan is coming from and It makes sense, but the wording is on a rank symbol.  IT seems to me that a rank pin/patch would be used as a signifier within the specific organization.  One holds the rank of ambassador and is givin the charge of "Klingon ambasador to the UFP"  but the rank pin, denoting rank within the Klingon Empire, would not necessarily say Klingon Diplomat. 

Imagine the conversation between the Chancelor and the ambassador when they tried to extridite Kirk in ST IV.  The chancelor would refer to him, whether adressing him or talking about him as "Ambassador name"  rather than "Klingon Ambassador name"  of course he's a Klingon ambassador, the Empire named him one.   

From this point of view I think that it may be a bit redundant.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

Just for clarity sake, Ambassador is a title, as well as a rank (Equivalent to Commander in K.L.A.W. 4th Fleet). And in that light it should be restated that the images shown above are not "Rank" insignia, but rather are a Diplomatic Branch Insignia.

maj! {Good}..