Serving as the emblem for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Alliance Starbird, also referred to as the Phoenix, was prominently displayed. During the Galactic Civil War, many Rebel pilots proudly wore it on their flight helmets. The symbol was derived from the Marek family crest.
In remembrance of Galen Marek, the former apprentice of Darth Vader who gave his life to safeguard the three founders of the Alliance, the Rebels adopted the symbol from the family crest belonging to the Marek family. Some narratives, however, suggest the insignia originated from the seal of the Old Republic. Indeed, a similar winged emblem was employed by the Republic during the era of the Great Galactic War.
Often likened to a phoenix rising from ashes, the Starbird embodied the Alliance's ambition to pave the way for the rise again of the Galactic Republic from the ruins of the Galactic Empire, which they were committed to overthrowing. The Starbird was most commonly seen in vibrant shades of red or blue, although it occasionally appeared in yellow, black, or gray.
Following the Alliance's transformation into the New Republic, the Starbird was kept as the central figure in the new government's insignia. The family crest belonging to Adar Tallon's bore a resemblance to a modified version of the Starbird symbol.
Ultimately, this symbol saw use across a spectrum of governing bodies, including the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Alliance of Free Planets, and the New Republic. A different version was used by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, the Alliance-in-exile, and, more than a century after Marek's passing, the Galactic Alliance Remnant and the Galactic Federation Triumvirate. Furthermore, the Starbird, albeit somewhat altered, mirrored the emblem of the Old Jedi Order, and subsequently became the symbol of the New Jedi Order and the short-lived Jedi Coalition.
A panel featured in Republic 78 depicts a dark Starbird painted onto the hull of a Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser. This might imply that the Starbird was in use by the Republic near its end, or that the ship was operating under the authority of the Marek family.