Factions have always been vital to the stories in the Star Wars franchise. Given the ever-increasing scope of the galaxy, continuously populated with many different characters subscribing to many belief systems, various symbols have helped to easily designate the different ideologies to fans. The conflicts that have raged between the Jedi and the Sith, or the battles between the Rebels and The Empire, have been differentiated for decades by the use of distinct symbology.
What makes the design behind each faction in the Star Wars Universe collectively revered can be attributed to many factors. From origin to aesthetic, to recognition, and even nostalgia, there’s a lot of reasons fans might consider one faction special over another. There’s no denying, however, that each one has in some way come to visually define the franchise.
10 Separatist Hex
To differentiate themselves from the Galactic Republic, the Confederacy of Independent Systems chose a symbol that couldn’t be further from the Starbird crest; a hexagon, made from dark blue outlines six triangles, and a small hexagon at its center.
The hex icon, as it came to be known, was used throughout the Clone Wars conflict, only disappearing once the Separatist armies were defeated and the New Republic was rebuilt into the first Galactic Empire. At that point, the symbol disappeared, but not before being incorporated into the design of the Empire’s infamous TIE fighters, perhaps as a nod to the faction that had been used by Darth Sidious to make his dark machinations into a reality.
9 Death Watch
When fans first encountered the infamous Death Watch in The Clone Wars, their pauldrons were marked with the symbol associated with Clan Visla, similar to the shape of a jai’galaar depicted in mid-dive, always colored in red. After the Clone Wars ended, the color of the elite clan was changed to blue.
Considered to be little more than thugs by members of Mandalorian royalty like Bo-Katan, they were nevertheless revered by foundlings like Din Djarin, who was saved by their cohort after his parents were killed by Separatist droids. Their symbol accurately reflects the savage violence they idolize and the warrior ways of a bygone era.
8 Hutt Cartel
The Hutt Clan, once the galaxy’s most powerful crime families, was known to indiscriminately align itself with whichever faction it felt would prove most commercially beneficial, whether that be the Galactic Republic or the Shadow Collective. Its own symbol was equally mercurial and reflected a kajidic, or Hutt social and philosophical structure guiding all Hutt clans (the Desilijic, for example, which contained Jabba the Hutt).
Known primarily for financing crime syndicates renowned for running weapons, contraband, and various ephemera, the Hutt Cartel was a great threat during the time of the Republic, their expansive piracy and organized crime proving particularly problematic in the Outer Rim where the Galactic Senate had little influence.
7 Sith Order
In the novels, video games, and comic books of Star Wars Legends, the Sith have had a variety of symbols denoting their collective. Some were created in a time when the Sith were plentiful, and others after Darth Bane instituted the Rule of Two. Those symbols have been replaced by the one introduced in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a crest that came about in an era when the Sith were all but excised from the galaxy but with the mind to return stronger than ever.
The Sith symbol, visible on the stone receptacle Kylo Ren smashes in order to retrieve the Wayfinder that will lead him to Exegol, consists of a jagged diamond-like pattern within a circlet, a simple shape that conveys both brutality and elegance.
6 First Order
The Imperial forces defeated at the Battle of Jakku, combined with the Imperial Remnant in the Unknown Regions, joined the New Republic’s Centrist party to create the First Order, a fascist military power looking to reclaim the Empire’s totalitarian control of the galaxy.
The First order symbol, often found in crimson and emblazoned on all their banners and paraphernalia, seemed to present a deconstructed version of the Imperial cog/Galactic Republic symbol, its rectangular points so numerous they most closely resembled sharp points. It was a perfect rebranding for Darth Sidious’s ultimate return to the arena of galactic subjugation.
5 Clan Mudhorn Crest
After working together to take down a rampaging mudhorn in the first season of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin and his asset Grogu became a clan of two according to the Mandalorian Code; Clan Mudhorn. The armorer bestowed the signet upon the pair for their bravery and teamwork, and the two foundlings became a family that would always protect one another.
The symbol features a mudhorn’s skull, commemorating the one they killed on Arvala-7, and is worn on Mando’s right pauldron. Not only is it a striking feature on his gleaming beskar armor, but it’s also highly personal, as all such ornamentation is for the Mandalorians.
4 Rebel Alliance Starbird/Resistance Crest
Emblazoned on X-wings and flight helmets across the ranks of the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance, the Starbird logo came to be a symbol of courage and hope across the galaxy. Created from the signature of Mandalorian Sabine Wren and the symbol taken up by extreme freedom fighter Saw Gerrerra, it was used by the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
The design is a simplified version of the Galactic Republic logo, the stars removed from around it seems to signify the systems that had once been aligned to it, now lost at the dawn of the Empire. After the defeat of the Empire, the New Republic once again incorporated the Starbird into its logo as well, making it one of the most enduring symbols in the Star Wars Universe, and one of the most famous in the franchise.
3 Galactic Empire Imperial Cog
Based on the symbol for the Galactic Republic, the Imperial Cog became one of the most recognized pieces of iconography in the galaxy. By taking the Republic’s roundel and removing two of its spokes, it became an omnipresent emblem of Sheev Palpatine’s dreaded Galactic Empire.
From fleets of formidable Star Destroyers to military uniforms and various pieces of propaganda, the sigil struck fear in the hearts of inhabitants from Outer Rim planets like Tatooine to Core Worlds like Coruscant. It was the public face of a dictatorship whose cog represented progress but became the embodiment of evil, and is one of the most recognizable symbols in the Star Wars franchise along with the Rebel Alliance Starbird.
2 Jedi Order
Taken from the standard of the Old Republic, which the Jedi Knights served as peaceful guardians for thousands of years, the symbol of the Jedi Order became a beacon of strength and freedom for countless star systems. It featured a lightsaber encircled by a pair of wings and could be found in everything from Jedi texts, to the sides of ships in the Grand Army of the Republic.
The symbol has not only been important throughout galactic history, from the time of the Old Republic to the time of Luke Skywalker’s New Jedi Order, it’s also been incorporated into Star Wars paraphernalia, such as the very first poster for the movie in 1977.
1 Boba Fett/Mandalorian Crest
The crest associated with the most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy happens to be associated with the unique Mandalorian armor he wears. Known as the krybes, the symbol has come to have many different origins, from being a Bantha skull to being the emblem of a training master in the days of ancient Mandalore.
The most commonly held belief is that it’s the skull of a mythosaur, the ancient beasts once ridden by Mandalorians thousands of years in the past. With the incredible popularity of characters like Boba Fett and Din Djarin on The Mandalorian and the fact that the horned skull is so iconic, it’s become one of the coolest symbols of any Star Wars faction.
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