Insignia

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(Redirected from Autobrand)

One of the universals across all Transformers continuities has been the use of insignia to differentiate members of respective armies, and sometimes sub-factions within armies or even individuals. This was sometimes used as a tactical advantage when Transformers would temporarily wear the symbol of the opposite faction to fool their opponents.

[edit] Fiction

[edit] Generation 1

[edit] Marvel comics continuity

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

When Slag was revived by Ratchet after being trapped in a tar pit for four million years, he went into a frenzy and attacked Ratchet, until he saw Ratchet's Autobrand and calmed down. Repeat Performance!

Ironhide was uncomfortable taking orders from Jetfire, who was still wearing a Decepticon insignia. Dinobot Hunt! Jetfire officially became an Autobot after going through the Rite of the Autobrand. To better disguise themselves on Earth, Wheeljack installed shielding circuitry into the Autobots which enabled a metal sheet to cover their Autobot symbols in alternate mode. Rock and Roll-Out!

The Predacon fooled Megatron into thinking they were Autobots by wearing fake Autobot symbols. Gone but Not Forgotten! The Sports Car Patrol tricked Ratchet into thinking they were Autobots by wearing counterfeit Autobot symbols—Decepticon and Autobot symbols on a rotating plate so they could switch back and forth. Back from the Dead

Megatron spent some time on Cybertron's Dead End district as an Empty. His mind was damaged and he just wandered about the place until the sight of an Autobot wearing an Autobot symbol snapped him out of it. The Resurrection Gambit!

[edit] Beast Wars

Rattrap's Maximal insignia once morphed into a Predacon one (and later back again). No other Transformer showed they could do this, and he only used it for a con. Double Jeopardy

When the Transmuter turned Rhinox into a Predacon, it automatically changed his insignia as well as giving him a redeco. Dark Designs Likewise, Waspinator gained Decepticon insignia while he was possessed by Starscream.

Possession Ravage sported both a Decepticon and Predacon insignia while working as a Predacon secret agent. The Agenda (Part 1)

Waspinator pulled his insignia off like it was a sticker when renouncing his Predacon membership. Nemesis Part 1

[edit] Unicron Trilogy

Sideways could change his insignia from Autobot to Decepticon — an ability he utilised for deceptive purposes. Credulous Ship

[edit] Generation 1

[edit] Prehistory

Ancient Transformer
This ancient symbol was discovered by Shockwave. He claims that although Transformers have been split into two races, they are one species. Generation One

Autobot
This symbol appeared on the forehead of Ancient Robot, who spoke to Rodimus Prime within the Matrix. FFoD

The Fallen
This symbol was only used on the Titanium toyline representation of the Fallen. It was not used in The War Within or any other fiction.

[edit] Pre-War Megatron Origin

Clench
This symbol was worn by Clench and his team in Kaon's illegal pitfights prior to the Great War. After Megatron replaced Clench as team captain he retained the symbol for a time before developing the Decepticon insignia as his team emblem.

Security Services
This symbol is used by the Autobot Security Services crew operating under Sentinel Prime and was seen on the flags draped over the coffins at the state funeral of operatives Fastback and Bumper.

Senate-related symbol
This symbol was worn by the crew of Senator Decimus's ship, as well as by Ratbat during his senatorial days.

[edit] The War Within

Autobot
Used in The War Within but not The Dark Ages

Decepticon
Used in The War Within but not The Dark Ages

Emirate Xeon
This symbol appeared on the helmet of the departed politician Emirate Xeon.The War Within issue 2

Ultracon
Used by Ratbat's group.The Age of Wrath

[edit] The Great War

Autobot It seems likely that in the real world, the Autobot symbol was derived from a stylized drawing of Prowl's toy's head. In the Marvel Comics continuity, it was known as the "Autobrand" and was seemingly based on the face of the Last Autobot. In the original animated series, it was a mark of the Quintesson slave brand.	The Autobot symbol as it appeared on Generation 1 toy packaging.	Decepticon It seems likely that in the real world, the Decepticon symbol was derived from a stylized drawing of Soundwave's toy's head. It has no given origin in either comic or cartoon, but in the latter, it presumably has the same origin as the Autobot symbol.	The Decepticon symbol as it appeared on Generation 1 toy packaging. Note the bevelled detail in the center of the crest at the top - the model sheet of the symbol created for the G1 cartoon based on this version misinterpreted it as a third spike, and it appeared in the show rendered in this manner almost universally.
Cybertron Guard This symbol represents the Decepticons under Shockwave's command charged with Cybertron's security. It was retroactively named in 2007 by TakaraTomy's World of Transformers website, but unnamed in its original context. Divide and Conquer	Wreckers This symbol was used by the Wreckers in the 3H Wreckers/Universe comics, and debuted in 2001. It is uncertain if prior incarnations of the team used this insignia or if it came into use after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. Departure	Rubsign Unactivated rubsign.

[edit] Non-Cybertronian Insignia

EDC (cartoon)	EDC (Dreamwave)	Federation of Western Europe	Machination
Quintesson This symbol was featured as part of the decal set for the e-Hobby exclusive [[Overcharge (G1)\|]] drones.	Herald of Unicron Used in the The Ark: A Complete Compendium of Character Designs book to denote Unicron	Z Foundation	Zarak Consortium
Robot-Master

[edit] Kiss Players

These symbols were used by the Sparkbots in Kiss Play Position.

Angela

Stardust

Zangetsu

[edit] Brazilian G1

These faction symbols were used in the Brazilian Estrela releases of the Microchange "Mini Car Robo" subline molds.

Optimus

Malignus

[edit] G.I. Joe Crossovers

Cobra

G.I. Joe

Action Force (European version of the brand)

[edit] Generation 2

Autobot
The G2 Autobot symbol seems clearly based on Optimus Prime. In the Marvel Comics continuity this change may have occurred since the Last Autobot had come and gone.

Decepticon
The G2 Decepticon symbol seems to be a stylized, updated G1 Decepticon symbol. Bludgeon's Decepticons adopted this symbol around 1991, apparently unaware it was also being used by the Cybertronian Empire that they would soon encounter.

Cybertronian
This symbol was used by Jhiaxus's Cybertronian Empire, who considered themselves neither Autobot nor Decepticon.

Cybertron Alliance
This was only used in Japanese continuity to bridge Return of Convoy and Generation 2.

[edit] Beast Era

[edit] Beast Wars

Maximal

Predacon

Mutant

Maximal Peacekeeper
Worn by knight-like Maximal soldiers/peacekeepers in Beast Wars: The Ascending.

Predacon (G1)

These symbols appeared on the walls of a transwarp shunt room used by Magmatron in IDW's Beast Wars: The Gathering. Although never explicitly stated, they apparently denote the original Predacon combiner team.

Razorclaw	Tantrum	Divebomb	Headstrong
Rampage

[edit] Beast Wars II

Moon

Space Pirate Seacons

[edit] Beast Wars Neo

Blendtron / Herald of Unicron

[edit] Beast Machines

Maximal

Vehicon

Dinobot
This insignia replaced the spark crystals of the Beast Wars Neo toys that were introduced to the Beast Machines toyline.

Predacon (Timelines)
Worn by Razorclaw in Dawn of Future's Past.

[edit] Car Robots

Takara used this symbol to represent the Combatron (Decepticon in Robots in Disguise) sub-group in Car Robots—it's an upside-down Generation 2 Autobot symbol, which had been molded into the Black Convoy toy, a redeco of Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime. The Hasbro version removed them and used the traditional Decepticon symbol. Though it can be briefly seen several times in the cartoon, this symbol does not "exist" in the English version.

[edit] Unicron Trilogy

[edit] Armada

Mini-Con
This symbol hints at the origins of the Mini-Cons, in that the "M" is echoed in Unicron's face, with the border representing the planet-eater's orbital ring.

Unicron
Used in Dreamwave's Armada profile book to denote Unicron-allied Transformers.

[edit] Energon

Energon Used to denote Energon. It is a stylized representation of an Autobot Energon star.	Powerlinx - Black Used by Optimus Prime and his combiner partners.	Powerlinx - Gold Worn by Mega-sized Transformers who can combine with fellow Mega- and Deluxe-sized Transformers.	Powerlinx - Silver Worn by Deluxe-sized Transformers who can combine with fellow Deluxe- and Mega-sized Transformers.
Powerlinx - Red Worn by Ultra-sized Transformers, who can combine with additional vehicle mode parts to form a "brute mode"	Powerlinx - Blue Used by the Air Team, the Construction Team, and the Destruction Team.	Team Ironhide An insignia worn by Ironhide and a group of Omni-Cons under his command in an episode of the Energon cartoon.	Unicron Seen in the background of Unicron's transformation sequence in the Energon cartoon.
Earth Federation The multi-national organisation that governs Earth during the 2020s.

[edit] Cybertron

Earth Seen on Cyber Keys that belong to Transformers from Earth.	Velocitron Seen on Cyber Keys that belong to Transformers from the planet Velocitron.	Jungle Planet Seen on Cyber Keys that belong to Transformers from the Jungle Planet.	Gigantion Seen on Cyber Keys that belong to Transformers from the planet Gigantion.
Combatron Seen on Cyber Keys that belong to Transformers from Combatron.	Cybertron Defense Team Used by Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scattorshot, after their collective reconstruction.

[edit] Live-action movie franchise

[edit] 2007 movie

For the 2007 movie, the Autobot and Decepticon factions were rendered in the steely gray seen below. Additionally- the Autobot and Decepticons were strongly associated with the colors blue and red, which led to the Autobot symbol appearing in blue in multiple media. Nonetheless the 'official colors' of said symbols remains red and purple.

Autobot The biggest change is that the tops of the eye sockets, horizontal in the G1 symbol, tip down towards the middle in the Movie symbol. There are other minor differences in proportions and angles.	Decepticon The G1 symbol has triangular eyes, as opposed to the skinny diamond eyes in the Movie symbol. Again, there are other minor differences. Perhaps most interesting in this continuity, is that the Decepticon symbol is based upon the face of The Fallen.	Sector Seven A Secret organization on earth that is trying to save humanity from the Autobots and Decepticons.	Mountain Dew Robot An elite group of infiltrators determined to steal the All Spark for their own purposes.
Stop Sector Seven Stop Sector Seven is an organization created to stop Sector Seven. It is headed by Agent X.	Lunchables Brigade A Terran radical group advocating the abolition of routine lunches by means of direct mealtime intervention.

[edit] Revenge of the Fallen

NEST
Depicted on vehicles and uniforms of NEST personnel. Variations include a version with Autobot insignia over top.

NEST
Insignia used on Autobot toys from the NEST Global Alliance refresh subline.

[edit] Transtech

Autobot

Decepticon

Axiom Nexus Security Administration

[edit] Shattered Glass

The alternate reality of the Shattered Glass timeline posits an army of evil Cybertronians united under the leering visage of a purple insignia badge... though probably not the one you were expecting.

Autobot	Autobot Secret Police Worn by Nightbeat and presumably his subordinates.	Elite Guard Worn by Thunderclash and presumably his subordinates.	Decepticon
Elite Guard Worn by Thunderwing and presumably all pre-war officers of the Elite Guard.

[edit] Transformers Animated

Cybertron Elite Guard
This insignia is used by the elite forces under the command of Ultra Magnus.

Sumdac Systems
The corporate logo of Isaac Sumdac's company, as seen in the foyer of Sumdac Tower.

Autotrooper
Worn by the security and peacekeeping forces of Cybertron.

[edit] Alternity

Protectors
This insignia was seen worn by the synthoid Elita Seven, a member of the Protectors. Its basis is Rodimus Prime's face, in accordance with his stated function as "Protector."