ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that by ‘transforming natural signs into symbolic discourses by means of abstraction and condensation’, logos are central to private military company's (PMSC) discursive legitimization strategies. The use of specific logos gives PMSCs the possibility to camouflage themselves by hiding the true nature of the services they provide. The chapter provides a visual narrative of PMSCs’ logos from the beginning of the 1990s to the present day. It examines the international private security market, conceptualizes logos as symbolic acts embedded in PMSCs’ discursive strategies and visual identity systems, and develops a methodology for examining PMSCs’ logos based on Peircean semiotics. Pricing occupies an important role in any market, as most businesses seek to obtain an advantage over their competitors by offering cheaper products.
