just because it’s top secret…

… doesn’t mean it can’t have a cool badge and insignia to go with it. Or at least this is what Trevor Paglen shows in his art book I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Black World. I say that it’s an art book because it doesn’t really offer all that much story behind the actual programs, though to be fair, black and top secret projects aren’t exactly easy to research. Top secret projects are very shadowy entities by design and black projects don’t even exist as far as government officials are concerned. Just try finding authoritative, real information about something that doesn’t exist. It’s going to be a Sisyphean task at best.

However, Paglen works with what he has by trying to explore the psychology and culture of the people who wear the badges he catalogs. In his narration for Newsweek, he points out that you as a member of a black or top secret project, can’t talk to anyone about what you do, not even your family. This begs the question; if you can’t talk about it, what’s with the badge?

My guess is that the badge lets you have a visual reminder that you belong to a secret club and there are others you can talk to, people who are allowed to know what you’re actually doing all day (or all night). And let’s remember that there’s a certain status that comes with working in black ops. Flash your Project X badge and get instant respect. Even the darkest, most secret military projects of all time employ people who are proud to hint at the fact that they’re doing something really spectacular behind closed doors…