--- title: "NASA Bows Down Before Mighty Worm" description: "Does any other federal agency in the United States — or, let's be real, the entire world — have branding quite as iconic as NASA's?" date: "2023-11-09" modified: "2023-11-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-worm-logo-honors" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "design" - "NASA" - "the digest" - "worm" --- # NASA Bows Down Before Mighty Worm ![Does any other federal agency in the United States — or, let's be real, the entire world — have branding quite as iconic as NASA's?]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Wormy Boi Does any other federal agency in the United States — or, let's be real, any part of a government in the entire world — have branding quite as iconic as NASA? The agency's incredible "worm" logotype is the work of Richard Danne. And this week, [NASA awarded the designer]() an "exceptional public achievement" medal for making those four little letters so unforgettable. As the [*CollectSpace* blog reports](), the history of Danne's groundbreaking work is, as the designer himself put it at the awards ceremony, "hard to explain." Along with his late design partner Bruce Blackburn, Danne created the famous worm-like logo back in 1975 after President Richard Nixon enlisted the National Endowment of Arts to revamp the visual branding of all federal agencies. The bright red logo reigned for less than two decades before the agency unceremoniously scrapped it to return to its original "[meatball]()" design — you know, the one with the circular blue background and random red arrow — in 1992. Then, almost 30 years after *that*, [NASA finally reinstated the worm]() in 2020, and [emblazoned it upon a SpaceX rocket]() for good measure. https://twitter.com/nasahqphoto/status/1721635071264694366 ## Cult Classic In the years of its "purgatory," as NASA branding liaison Bert Ulrich called the decades when the worm was nowhere to be found on any of the agency's official insignia, the worm's simple, elegant, and futuristic design gained something of a cult status. "Fashion houses started coming to us wanting to use the worm," Ulrich said, "and it just sort of filtered into the popular culture in a way which was really astounding." Even though it was officially scrapped, NASA employees have long identified with the worm — even, or perhaps especially, while it was typeface non grata. "Through all of this, even when it was rescinded, it only got more popular," said Danne. "When they reintroduced it, it invigorated everything again." During this awards ceremony, NASA honored Danne, Blackburn and former agency design director Robert Schulman by dedicating the newly-erected worm logo that sits outside the agency's Washington, DC HQ building, which in 2021 was [renamed for "hidden figure" Mary Winston Jackson](), NASA's first Black female engineer. The designer acknowledged that although it "has not always been easy," his relationship to NASA "helped the agency achieve its missions and goals." "This event, a culmination of a 50-year trek, is extremely rewarding," Danne said. "Creating the worm for NASA has been a singular achievement in my own career and in the history of design." **More on NASA history:** [*Anti-Trans Laws Force Engineer to Quit Job Helping NASA With Moon Missions*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()