The Cameron Star

The obvious symbol, a radiant starburst, was dismissed from the beginning because it resembled the Federated Suns' sunburst. Other star designs were tried. One, a central star, surrounded by five smaller stars, was considered favorable until someone asked whether the symbol would be redesigned once the Periphery realms joined the League.

The eventual symbol was discovered one day as Ian Cameron was visiting his niece, Tomasina Cameron-Havley, at a day care center. As he approached, he saw the little girl lost in concentration, desperately trying to draw a symmetrical star like the one her teacher had done. She could not and was left with a star with two of its rays longer than the others. When she gave up in frustration, the child noticed her uncle and held up the star to him. "This is a bad star," she said peevishly. Ian Cameron said that it wasn't, that it was grand because "it's a Cameron Star."

Ian Cameron took the child's drawing to several artists who developed and embellished it. Cameron then took these and sent copies to the rulers of the other houses with a letter explaining the story behind the design. All, even Coordinator Hehiro Kurita of the Draconis Combine, were enchanted by the story and the star and thus was Cameron's Star adopted as the official symbol of the Star League.

--From A Reader's Digest History of the Star League, by Vandreesen Joa, Lyran Public Press, Donegal 3002