Romulan Star Empire

The emblem of the Romulan Star Empire is known as “the Eagle”. It is a symbol of military might and honour, displayed on the bridge of every Romulan warship, yet also symbolizes civilian pride in the Romulan state, and is found at public facilities throughout the Empire. Romulan officers, and sometimes civilians, swear oaths upon the Eagle, and defacing the symbol is a serious offense. The original inspiration for the design came when the family emblem of S’Task was crossed with an artistic representation of an avian life-form native to Romulus. The first scout parties to chart the Rihannsu’s new homeworld encountered huge eagles carrying their eggs in their talons; today the Eagle grasps Romulus and Remus in its claws. The former is gripped protectively, indeed as a mother cradles an egg, the latter, held in thinner, sharper claws, appears instead as a prey item. The bird itself is spread in an aggressive posture of display, representing the glory and majesty of the Star Empire. Its head is positioned with the beak pointing down, mirroring the triangle on which it is mounted. This triangle recalls the Vulcan Kol-ut-shan, the symbol of Surak’s philosophies, which were without end, but began at a single point, Mount Seleya. The Romulans have used the same design, representative of the (one sided) noble hatred and honourable feud between S’Task’s followers and Surak’s. On the Romulan banner, however, the point of beginning is missing, as the triangle’s point is detached from any anchoring symbol. This, of course, is because Mount Seleya has been left far behind. Vulcan philosophies, here taken to mean the passionate warrior culture Surak destroyed, are still presented as being without end, widening out and leading the entire galaxy into the glory of the Romulan Empire, whose perfect strength and honour is announced by the slogan always displayed at the inverted triangle’s top. It should also be noted that the triangle resembles a dagger, especially as it is coloured in a dull metallic silver. The fact that the Eagle’s beak mirrors the triangle, pointing with the dagger and looking back towards the sundered beginning, serves to make the symbol an aggressive attack on Surak’s Vulcan, which, while clearly out of sight, can never be out of mind. The emblem as a whole is split into two halves, the Romulus side, on the left, coloured in blood-green to symbolize aggressive strength and passion; the right-hand side, featuring Remus, rendered an icy blue.

The image of the Eagle is mirrored in the design of Romulan warships, which are known as “Birds-of-Prey” or “Warbirds”. Subordinate warriors within the military, especially young cadets, are also frequently referred to as “Eaglets”.

Like all other major powers, the Romulan Star Empire sometimes finds that its military objectives require more than just powerful starships. Some situations call for the presence of troops on the ground to deal with situations too difficult or too delicate for the brute force of a spacecraft. In such circumstances, the Star Empire assigns the forces of the Planetary Command to deal with the problem. Although they amount to a very small percentage of the Romulan military when compared to the navy, ground forces nevertheless play many important roles. When the navy wants a planet pacified without significant damage, it sends in the Planetary Command troops. When terrorists or insurrectionists begin a campaign on a Romulan world, the ground forces get the call to go into the hills, caverns, and cities to root the criminals out and bring them to justice. If a threat force captures Romulan territory, the ground forces recapture it. The Planetary Command has its own rank structure and table of organization separate from that of the Romulan navy. Most soldiers hold the equivalent rank of private. Above that basic rank one finds, from lowest to highest, the equivalents of corporals, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, majors, colonels, and generals. The supreme commander of the Planetary Command holds the rank of Major-General. At any given time the entire Planetary Command usually has 100-150 regiments of soldiers stationed on various worlds, though the size of the force may increase drastically in times of prolonged war.