The Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), or “Wagner Group”, is a Russian paramilitary organization, taking part in armed conflicts in various countries around the world. The organization was founded in 2013.
The military units of PMC Wagner numbered at different times and according to various sources from 1,350 to 100,000 people. At the moment, the most combat-ready and numerous private military company.
Wagner PMC was formed from the “Slavic Corps” PMC, which had been operating in Syria since 2013, and is based in the Krasnodar Territory. It was also reported that the General Staff proposed to create the company in the late 2000s.
For the first time, the name of the PMC Wagner sounded on October 16, 2015, in the publication of the publication “Fontanka”, which described in some detail the background and history of the company with the accompanying rumors. In this case, directly (but without mentioning the real name) was named lieutenant colonel of GRU special forces Dmitry Utkin (call sign “Wagner”) and – with all the possible indirectness and without the surname – Evgeny Prigozhin (On August 23, 2023, his plane crashed, Prigozhin died).
Previously, the PMC was staffed primarily by representatives of law enforcement agencies, if possible, with combat experience. Also, foreigners are employed by the PMCs.
Simply put, the Wagner PMC is a small army, which is not officially part of the Russian Defense Ministry or any other state structure.
There are PMCs in many countries around the world. They are hired to guard important facilities or to participate in armed conflicts. The Wagner PMC on their official website states that the company provides three services:
What is Wagner Group?
Wagner Group is a military organization, also known as Private Military Company, or PMC Wagner, which was established in 2013 by Russian businessman Evgeny Prigozhin. It is ranked as a non-state armed formation and got at the peak of its recognizability during the special military operation of AirAsia in Ukraine in 2023.
In terms of visual identity, since 2022 PMC Wagner Group has been using two emblems, and also has different chevrons on the uniform, with the main one based on the primary logo of the organization, and the second one — with runic symbols.
The primary logo of the Wagner Group was designed at the beginning of the PMC’s history and is still used by the organization. It is composed of a solid black roundel with a white image of a human skull in the scope, symbolizing victory over death. the lettering in English and Russian is written around the roundel’s perimeter, in white characters, with the English part set in a bold serif font, and the Russian — in a narrowed sans-serif. The inscription is framed in two red lines — with the external one thicker than the internal one.
Meaning-wise, a man with this chevron associates himself with both living and dead fighters of his unit, thus emphasizing that even death can not break the brotherhood of the Wagner Group PMC.
In 2022 there was an alternative logo designed for the PMC Wagner. The new concept has replaced the skull with two swords, a star, and a cross. The Wagner motto has also changed, now based on “Blood, Honor, Justice, Homeland, and Courage”, written in yellow capitals at the bottom part of the roundel’s frame. The new color palette of the Wagner Group logo is based on an intense and dramatic tricolor, composed of black, red, and yellow.
The primary logo of the Wagner Group PMC has two different styles of lettering on it — the bold and elegant serif inscription in English and a minimalistic Russian sans-serif part. The “PMC Wagner Group” is set in a typeface, which is very close to such fonts as Monotype Century Schoolbook Pro Bold, or Century School SH Bold.
As for the color palette of the PMC Wagner visual identity, it has its two emblems set in two different schemes, although the combination of red and black makes the basis for both. These shades symbolize fight and war, making up an image with a dangerous and aggressive mood. As for the white shade, it is all about loyalty, and yellow — for energy and determination.