Background and Perspective
Well, the good news is I only spent about $3k of my own money! Seems Fred has confused a lot of people will his messing with the original logo. I hope these images (below) will help.
Here is a little more info. Seems the REAL logo (not Fred's mutilation of the mark) is not showing up at the top of the thread. I will try to fix that asap. I can see it... so really weird.
Here is the from A3 Design.
__________________________________________from A3
Attached is a pdf that takes us through a bit of our thought process in working through this logo draft and how it evolved into what it is. We aimed to create an iconic, generic image that could clearly be identified as a raptor but not identifiable as ANY ONE type of raptor. The wings of the bird were illustrated as a FEATHER and both the feathers and the head lack identifiable detail to further the anonymity of that bird. Overall, the personality of the icon is strong and commanding, is associated with a bird of prey and has a slight undertone of patriotism. This logo sets the bar for the competition; instantly communicating your organization as the most professional, well-established and active organization.
We really took the application of the logo into consideration providing you options of the logo as an embroidered patch or with out the patch for media and screen print uses. The color palettes were kept close to the raptor's environment with earth & sky tones but are open to suggestions.
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC1.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC2.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC3.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC4.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC5.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC6.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC7.jpg
http://www.jasonhausman.com/AFC8.jpg