Why Walt Disney designed Army & Navy insignia (1941)
One day last summer [at the start of World War II], when the new Navy torpedo boats were being launched, Lieutenant E S Caldwell, then of the Naval Operations office in Washington, wrote a letter to Walt Disney in Hollywood, and asked Disney to design an emblem appropriate for this new “mosquito fleet.”
Few days later, back to the fleet came the emblem painted outside the bridge of the torpedo boat shown [below].
The little mosquito, streaking through the water with a tar’s hat on his head and a shiny torpedo held between his many legs, made such a hit that every torpedo boat in the fleet soon had a Disney mosquito.
As soon as word got around in the Army and Navy as to what Disney had done, the Disney office was bombarded with requests to design insignia for tanks, minesweepers, bombers, and fighter planes. Disney did his best to comply.
When Brigadier General S B Buckner, commander of the Alaska Defense Force at Fort Richardson, Alaska, received his outfit’s design — a seal balancing the letters ADF, the general wrote Disney:
“Since the arrival of the insignia, all of the seals in the Bering Sea have been out on the ice pack balancing Ds on their noses, sneering derisively at the polar bears, expanding their chests, and cavorting merrily over being chosen to represent our defense forces.”
By last week, it was clear that Disney and his artists had created a whole new system of heraldry, comparable to the ancient knightly arms.
With requests for insignia still pouring in from the Army and Navy, the Disney studios announced that they had already completed more than 200 designs, and expected to do at least 500 more. Two of their artists were working full time on the job.
Several examples of the military insignia that Disney designed
Laughing jackass was drawn for 98th Field Artillery Fort Lewis, WA
Brenda, a balancing seal, is mascot of the Alaska Defense Force
Disney’s sharp-eyed eagle for planes of the 108th observation squadron
Butch, a falcon, was designed for 23rd Pursuit Squadron, Puerto Rico
Pelican and fly with machine gun represent 17th Pursuit Squadron
Bug looking down telescope designed for 15th Observation Squadron
Insignia of Eagle Squadron of Americans flying for Britain in WWII
Pugnacious bulldog for the 62nd Pursuit Squadron
Disney’s Flying Squirrel for Jacksonville Air Station 1941
Dusty was drawn for the 45th Air Base Squadron – WWII
One Response
Hello,
I’m an historian for the US Air Force and Im researching a WWII insignia for the 37th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadron. It’s listed as the 17th on this page but the image has 37th and it’s a pelican with a fly in its mouth with a machine gun. The 37th Flying Training Squadron here at Columbus Air Force Base, MS has the bestowed heritage of the 37th Pursuit/Fighter Sq and would like to use the pelican emblem, but there is no official record of it with the USAF nor does Disney have it in their files. May I ask what your source was for the info? I’d really like to make this happen for our squadron and if I can come up with the proof, it will.
Thanks!
Lisa Dennis
14 FTW Historian