Can you help me identify this mysterious logo?

August 6, 2020 8:06 PM

Here it is. Found as a decal on some kind of utility cabinet in a friend's basement. Google and Tineye haven't been helpful. Thanks!

Description: red shield on white background. Large circular cutout in the shield, with a black circular design in the centre and four lightening bolts radiating from it.

posted by klanawa to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

A brief perusal of the ADL Hate Symbols database doesn't bring up anything, but a lot of it (the color scheme, the lightning bolts, the odd cross shape in the middle) certainly evoke white supremacists.
posted by HeroZero at 8:49 PM on August 6, 2020 [5 favorites]

Could it be a disused union bug? If it's in a cabinet used for electrics, there might be some similarity to the IBEW's logo.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 8:58 PM on August 6, 2020 [3 favorites]

I also thought "union logo" when I first saw it, FWIW.
posted by mekily at 9:23 PM on August 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Yeah my guesses were a motorcycle club, something to do with the airforce or military, a band, a union or white supremacists, but nothing matches up. I thought the circular symbol resembled an electrical symbol I'd seen somewhere but I can't find anything similar now. Most electrical unions' logos involve a hand or fist.
posted by klanawa at 9:42 PM on August 6, 2020

I thought it might be insignia for an army signal corp and see lots of lightning bolts but nothing matches.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:56 AM on August 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

Is the house wired for a back-up generator? Something about that logo says "electric generation" to me, but I can't seem to find a match.
posted by Floydd at 5:41 AM on August 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

Floydd got in before me, but yes - that center icon appears to be a generator icon.

Lightening bolts are the common symbol for electricity, electrical panels, and similar.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:49 AM on August 7, 2020 [6 favorites]

My first thought was "air raid siren", but given the residential setting, I would guess it's the cabinet to an old alarm system. The thing in the middle looks like a siren to me, sending out a signal, and it's imposed on a shield connoting protection or defense.
posted by unsound at 9:03 AM on August 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

not an answer, but maybe try https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/
posted by pyro979 at 11:20 AM on August 7, 2020 [1 favorite]