As we read from the statement of the state-owned company published on the Telegram platform about the status of the national space agency Roskosmos, on May 7 there was a temporary change in the organizational symbolism of the current logo. It shows a stylized rocket arrow and a graphic representation of an elliptical orbit in the background. In addition, the logo indicates a certain trend in the symbolism of national institutions, incorporating elements related to space, stars or spaceships in the coat of arms. Many of the signs are also to some extent inspired by the United States National Space Agency, using a distinctive layout and elements.

The Roscosmos logo has been changed to a five-pointed star, which in the context of Rogozin’s recent remarks and the recent history of the Russian state is primarily associated with the communist movement and the Soviet state, which, according to Dmitry Rogozin, was responsible for significant achievements in the field of space exploration. He cites the first human flights into space, the Venera and Mars space missions and the construction of the Salyut and Mir stations as examples.

Management of the Russian Space Agency announced that the visual changes are temporary (it is not known when the agency will return to its previous logo), conditioning it with a desire to commemorate the soldiers of the Red Army who died in the Great Patriotic War. (Russian name for the separate period of World War II, which lasted from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945).

In addition, there is also an aspect of contemporary propaganda, because, as we read on the websites of state-owned companies (which are difficult to access for European readers who do not have proxies or VPNs), the reasons for introducing red stars are also conditioned by the attitude of the Western world, which ” launched an undeclared war with the Russian Federation” and introduced economic sanctions against Moscow. There have also been attempts to justify the war in Ukraine and expose Russia as a victim. As added – “the new logo is a symbol of not only ideological but also structural change”.

Rogozin added that the new symbolism will become an element of support for the “special military operations” led by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which “de facto” is the Russo-Ukrainian war. He also said that the existing Roscosmos logo was “not up to date” and too similar to the symbolism used by other space agencies, which could be read as a move to break away from “Western” institutions and thus acquire a propaganda tone in Russian eyes. The head of Roscosmos himself uses a sickle and hammer with a red star inscribed on his social media as a profile photo. Let us note that in many European countries, the promotion of this type of symbolism is prohibited by law.