Symbology Sourcebook for Military Applications

This document provides an up-to-date reference of all available military symbols currently being used. This listing is preceded by a summary of recent ARI research efforts in the area of the design and use of military symbology. The research efforts proceeded in three stages. The first stage required the collection and organization of many currently used military symbols to allow comparisons and identify conflicts. This catalog included the Army Field Manual 21-30 and was the basis for a comprehensive database of military symbols, known as TACSYM. TACSYM and several other sources are listed in this document. The second research stage was a survey of users symbology needs. It revealed two major issues 1 symbols did not exist for many concepts, and 2 therefore, users developed their own personalized illustrations for the concepts, resulting in a myriad of symbols representing the same concept. The third research stage was to experimentally investigate how to best develop and portray military symbols. Symbol characteristics such as perceptual discriminability, associative value, and configuration have been found to affect symbol detection. A systematic technique for choosing among alternative symbols was developed and procedures for designing new ones are presently being investigated.