Bajoran Hand-Dominance Discussion

Snarkticon

Snarkticon

Well-Known Member
I came up with a theory -- well ... more of an idea really -- a few years ago to explain the in-universe reasoning behind why the Bajoran comm badge is on the right breast instead of the left.

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If you think about the uniforms from a design point of view, why is the Federation comm badge on the left breast? It's because Humans (the epicenter of the Federation) are pre-dominantly right-handed. Nearly everything on Earth today (and possibly in the future) is designed with a right-handed person in mind.

Going solely on this idea, it's interesting to wonder if the Bajora are a predominantly left-handed species. Perhaps their clothes, technology and other every day items are created with lefties in mind? Maybe that's why their comm badges are positioned on the right breast of their uniforms.

Now, I'm certain that the creators of Star Trek weren't thinking about this when they designed the Bajoran military uniform -- they probably just wanted it to look that much different than the Federation's. I have also not observed any on-screen evidence to support that Bajorans are mostly left-handed (other left-handed tech, left-handed actors or characters, etc.) It's just something that stuck in my head and I wanted to share the idea with my fellow RPFers to see what y'all think. :)
 
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Well, a human's heart isn't on the left side of their body. Not fully at least. Dunno what heart location has to do with a comm badge's location either way. :)
 
That makes sense ... until they remove the comm badges. We've seen several instances of comm badges been placed on inanimate objects for transporting purposes, or laying on a table and still able to receive signals.

I don't think the heart is the power source for the comm badge.
 
Must admit that at first I found this thread too nerdy even for this place, but then I thought of an answer, so here I sit, Mr. Too Nerdy For This Place. ;)

Bajorans are crazy religious. There's a religious reason for everything they do. So it must have something to do with that.
 
Actually, the comm badge is on the left side of the uniform because the Delta Shield on Starfleet uniforms has always been on the left side.

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It really has nothing to do with the operation of the communicator.

This is the same location for a lot of badges on uniforms.
 
I think the reasoning for the Federation style was based on US Military Uniforms. Most of the 'decoration' is on the left (such as insignia [combat uniforms] and commendations [dress uniforms]) while the name plate is on the right. That could serve as an in and out of universe explanation.

As for the Bajorans, I would have to agree with a previous poster that there's probably a religious significance to it.
 
darthgordon said:
Actually, the comm badge is on the left side of the uniform because the Delta Shield on Starfleet uniforms has always been on the left side.
Click to expand...

Not always on top though. :)
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I'm going with TheDoctor - it's derived from the US military tradition. Bajorans are different because the Prophets or one of their Orbs or one of their Kai's told them to do it that way.
 
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