Changes with the POW-MIA Flag and Logo over the years. by Jim McCrain

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1 Changes with the POW-MIA Flag and Logo over the years. by Jim McCrain A Little History: In 1972, at the request of the National League of (POW-MIA) Families, Mr Newt Heisley was approached by the Annin Flag Company to design a flag/logo to illustrate the Prisoner of War and Missing In Action issue. He accepted the challenge and got to work. He wanted to portray the harsh conditions that the POWs faced, but not in such a graphic way as to alienate the public. His intent was to create awareness of the conditions, plight, and hopelessness that each Prisoner must be experiencing. His son (Jeffrey Heisley) had just come home on medical leave from the Marine Corps, suffering from malaria and dehydration. The silhouette of this young Marine was perfect to depict the harsh conditions and health of the POWs. Heisley added a watch tower with a Guard, wearing an Asian sampan hat and holding a rifle with fixed bayonet. There would also be a strand of barbed wire encompassing the prison camps. The Letters POW and MIA, separated by a five-point star would reach across the top of the design, while an ionic laurel wreath, symbolizing peace and hope, with the words You Are Not Forgotten would create a half-circle underneath the silhouette. Heisleys design was originally going to include several colors. However, the Annin Company wanted to get the flag into production as soon as possible, so they settled for the black-andwhite mock-up. This is the logo/flag that was presented to the National League of Families, and which they immediately adopted. Heisley and the National League of Families wanted to make this design readily available to the public, at no charge, so neither a copywrite nor trademark was applied for. Since Then: The POW-MIA flag became more popular than either the National League of Families or Mr Heisley could ever imagine! It began to appear all across the United States, and then soon spread across the globe. The design was widely accepted as THE image to depict the Vietnam Prisoners Of War. But as the design had been commissioned by the Annin Flag Company, they were the only ones manufacturing the flag for many years. They held on to the original artwork. What this meant for the public was that they would have to create their own artwork for their own production. And it was this act that has lead to some seemingly minor, yet somehow significant changes in the design. None of these other versions are wrong as they all keep the same primary design elements and color scheme. (Black-and-white.) My Revelation: I first began to notice these minor variations in the design when I personally met several MIA Family Members and some former Vietnam Prisoners of War: the very people that this flag was

2 designed for. It was my desire to find the original artwork, so that I could make sure I was displaying the very image that these people sacrificed under. I started by using some old school research techniques. I picked up the telephone and started hunting for people. After weeks of searching, I was able to reach both of the sons of Mr Newt Heisley, the original logo designer. Jeffrey (the one depicted in the logo) sent me a signed version of the Annin Flag, manufactured in the mid-1980s. He is the one that made sure I was aware of the sampan hat worn by the depicted guard. Jim Heisley, the son that worked sideby-side with his Father in their design agency, sent me copies of the original pen and ink concept drawings his Father had made. He also told me many of the details of his fathers idea, including the unfulfilled wish for adding color to the flag. (He did not, however, know precisely which colors his father wanted to use, or where they would be seen in the finished design.) I was able to make contact with a vice-president for the Annin Flag Company who sent me a photo of Newt Heisley with an original Annin flag, and also supplied me with a high-resolution copy of the flag design in EPS format. I then started an in-depth search of the internet, making separate folders for each new version that I found. Certain patterns began to develop. My forty-plus year background in publishing, layout, printing, and photography made many of these variations seem extremely glaring and obvious to me. However, as I found more and more variations, I started asking the MIA Families and Former POWs what they thought of the changes. Most of them were not aware that any changes had been made, while others were very adamant that these changes were, if not offensive, just a little disturbing. What I found as the four most common changes/adaptations were (1) the use of different fonts, (2) changes in the facial features of the POW, (3) the depiction of the guard, guard tower, and barbed wire, and (4) the ionic laurel wreath. I will attempt to clarify these changes with the use of the images shown below. The Comparisons: Image #1 shows Mr Newt Heisley standing next to one of the very first POW-MIA flags. (Image courtesy of the Annin Flag Company.) In this image, the original design is very clear. The guard and tower are very identifiable, as is the strand of twisted barbed wire. The silhouette of Jeffrey Heisley shows a few exaggerated features, such as the eye-lashes and protruding adams apple. The ionic Laurel wreath has a definite art deco style. The font used for POW-MIA is very linear and square, as are the words You Are Not Forgotten. It is a simple design with clean lines. I then compared that original flag photo with the artwork supplied by the Annin Flag Company. I made a startling revelation. This original artwork was not the same as that seen in the photograph! In photo #2, I could plainly see that the phrase You Are Not Forgotten was in a different font than that in photo #1. The new original font was BOLD, while the old original was not. A quick phone call to Annin provided an answer, although the VP wasn t sure why or when this change had been made. In fact, she wasn t even aware that it HAD been

3 made. The reason for the new font was that the BOLD letters are easier to read on a waving flag. This made sense to me, and the change does not bother me. The single most common change(s) to the original design DO bother me, and for several reasons. In image #3, you can see that the entire font family has been changed, not only in size, but in spacing and shape. The linear, clean lines of the original were now more of an oblique shape. The guard in the tower no longer held a rifle. The facial features were changed and no longer looked like the original inspiration. But worse (to ME) than any of these other changes was that the barbed wire (signifying incarceration) had been changed to a telephone pole. These changes appear more often than any of the other adaptations in the public view. And to me, this is not-forgivable. The guard with rifle/bayonet, tall tower, and barbed wire were there to let people know our POWs were not on a vacation, but were in PRISON. This design (image #3) seemed to lose all of the elements that described the harsh conditions of the POWs. And unfortunately, this is the version that appears the most on patches and small embroidery items. One variation of THIS variation even loses the telephone pole altogether, with NOTHING other than a non-descript tower-like feature depicting the prison camps. Images #4, #5, and #6 are closer to the original design, but with minor font changes. However, their most distinguishing feature changes are to the ionic laurel wreath. Image #4 shows the end caps as rounded, while the original wreath is pointed on the ends. But Image #5 and #6 completely replace the laurel wreath with a set of chains. While I personally like this change (the chains truly represent bondage to me), I was shocked with the reaction that several former POWs had to this. They had reactions ranging from tears to anger with the chains. This change was a gut-wrenching reminder of what they had personally been through, and they wanted nothing to do with this. Variation #7, #8, and #9 each contained major revisions to the facial features or the prisoner making it almost unrecognizable as the original inspiration. To me, this is again, not a major change, as the identity of the original prisoner was not essential to the design, just his gaunt appearance. All of these changes are minor in the over-all scheme of things. Each of these variations is easily recognizable as the POW-MIA flag/logo. Each of these design variations still conjure up a sense of pride in America for not giving up on our Service Men, and each design reminds America that we still have Men that are unaccounted for. The over-all design remains as powerful today as it did when it was first released in My Inspiration: I mentioned that I have met many Family members of some of our Missing In Action. I have also become friends with several former Prisoners of War. To all of these people, the War is not over. And it isn t only a symbol of the Vietnam War anymore. America has had both POW and MIA personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention World War I, WWII, and Korea. I have met a lot of these people and the Men and Women that have served with them. I have felt a little of the pain that these Veterans feel when they remember their missing Family members

4 and Brothers in Arms. I owe them respect and honor for their sacrifices, and I couldn t do this properly, in my mind, without going back to that original design I had been searching for. And then something amazing happened. While discussing a few of these findings on social media, a graphic designer THAT I WORK WITH mentioned that he had apprenticed under Mr Heisley! He could immediately see the differences in the font styling used, the spacing of the lettering, and the other graphical changes. Once he was aware that changes had been made, he began seeing them in each new design. Mr Tom Stambaugh offered to help me recreate the original artwork as closely as possible. We spent several weeks looking at each version, and reworking the designs. And then we received the high-resolution files from the Annin Company and Jim Heisley. A new project idea was born. My Tribute: In my desire to honor our POW and MIA personell, from Vietnam and every other American war, and to pay respect to the sacrifices made by their Family, I wanted to create a NEW variation myself. I wanted to maintain the clean, linear lines of the original, but wanted to make it a little more modern, as well. I wanted the prisoner to remain the same as the original, but with slightly less exaggerated features. (I felt as if the elongated eye-lashed detracted from the gaunt look.) I wanted to return to the image of the barbed wire, but with a slightly different, more art deco feel to it that tied in with the ionic laurel wreath. I wanted to make sure that the guard in the tower had a rifle with bayonet, to insure that the viewer understood that the prisoner was most definitely NOT free, and under constant duress. Tom got to work. I was inspired by the daughter of U.S. Marine Lieutenant Ronald Wayne Forrester. (Karoni s Father became Missing In Action on December 27, 1972.) When I asked her opinion of the variations I had found, she mentioned that she had seen a version with barbed wire in place of the laurel wreath, and that it looked nice. (Karoni is a true Texas-Lady, so she knows how beautiful barbed wire actually can be!) Tom and I sent several versions of barbed wire back and forth until Tom came up with just the right shape. But I hated to lose that original laurel wreath, so Tom updated the strand of barbed wire with our new version. He had created a great looking image. (See image #10) I sent this new image to a panel of 8 MIA Family members and 6 former POWs. It was received as a resounding success. But I still wasn t completely satisfied. Something was missing, and Tom agreed. I came up with extending Karoni s barbed wire idea into a circle surrounding the entire logo. My idea was to create a border that would make this a more visually interesting patch or logo. (Another variation that I have encountered is the shape of the logo, ranging from a square, a flag-shaped rectangle, to an angled chevron shape.) This circle to me represented more than a border; it represented a continuation of the sacrifice, from the Prisoner or Missing, to their Family members, and thence to our Country. I was happy with the design. But Tom wasn t.

5 He couldn t quite tell me what was wrong with it until one day when it just came to him in a flash. He remembered hearing me talk about another friend of mine. Army Spc. Joseph Hudson was taken prisoner in Iraq on March 23, His unit was ambushed, sustaining several casualties and resulting in the capture of seven of his comrades-in-arms. He was held prisoner for 22 days. Tom said that he knew how to honor Joe, and make our new logo a fitting symbol for ALL American Service Personnel. He took the sampan hat off of the guard! Tom was right. The new logo was finished. It is now my privilege to present to you Image #11; a new original version of the POW-MIA flag/logo. It is my hope that this will help our Country remember those that have sacrificed for us, their friends that still feel the pain of surviving, and will comfort those that so desperately need closure for their Missing Family. Sincerely, Jim McCrain

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