Apollo 15 Mission Patch
Apollo 15 Mission Patch
After evaluating 540 different ideas for their mission patch, the crew of Apollo 15 asked the Italian dress designer, Emilio Pucci, to help with the design. Pucci had been a pilot in the Italian Air Force, so the crew felt his understanding of aviation would transfer well to the design.The sketches Pucci presented included three stylised birds, representing the three crew members. They fly closely in formation to indicate the common goal and purpose of the mission. One bird flies on top, with the other two closer to the lunar surface – signifying the fact that only two of the crew would actually land on the Moon. The lunar surface in the background of the patch is the actual landing site – next to Hadley Rille at the foot of the Appenine Mountains. It also includes “15” in Roman numerals amongst the craters.
The final mission patch, including the lettering was completed by NASA graphic artist Jerry Elmore, using Pucci’s sketches. Elmore reportedly claimed that he hid his initials somewhere in the design, though he never confirmed exactly where.
Web resources
More information
Object number
2017-18
Location
Artefact Store
Has this object been into space?
No
Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit
Diameter: 10cm
Depth: 0.2cm
Material
Cotton
Materials & techniques note
Embroidered
Associated event
Apollo 15
Associated Person
Dave Scott
Al Worden
Jim Irwin
Object Production Date
Circa 1971
Object Production Organisation
Lion Brothers
Object Production Place
Maryland
Baltimore County
United States
Object Production Person
Emilio Pucci
Jerry Elmore
On Display Status
On display
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
