I posted an identical flag to this a few months ago. No problem - great minds think alike!

I did some research grabbing DVD frames from the pilot before I made the flag. It's not just the Lt's patch. Exactly the same triangular shoulder patch is worn by (Sgt) Mal and the Lt.

Curiously, Sgt Mal wears his triangular shoulder patch point upwards, while the Lt wears his point downwards.
I think we have to accept that they fudged it - either that, or the Independents were very sloppy dressers.

Either way, it appears to be an Independent symbol or possibly a military unit symbol. In the absence of any other authentic Independent heraldry, I'm happy to go with it.

I have a picture of the badge on Mal's coat, and it is definitely not the same as the Lt's badge. You're right that it's pointed the other direction, but it also has different graphics; Mal's has a sunrise with blue, yellow and green. Unless you're thinking of some other pilot episode of Firefly... ;) Send me a wave if you want the link to that picture.

I just made some screens of the pilot and the Message....and Mal's patch does seem to be the same to me, It's quite muddy in Serenity, so it's not quite clear there, but the patch he wears in The Message looks deffinatly the same as the Lt's.
If wanted I could post some screen of those scenes/patches....just ask

First, sorry to JackSkellington10 (love the name) cuz I know this isn't a message thread and we should be commenting on your picture instead of discussing... but this is the last post from me, promise.

Second, you guys are absolutely right! Thanks, Fredep, for pointing out that it can also be seen in "The Message." I was only looking at the muddy-ish version from "Serenity," and to my obviously tired eyes, it looked more like a blue, rising sun (with the blue rays coming out of the sun) than it did an upside down, blue, 5-point star. Maybe the rank is in the border: the Lt's is green and Mal's is either black or dark blue...? Or maybe I'm seeing things again.

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