The (Sometimes Poetic) Significance Behind Naming Missiles

You may have heard about Iran test-firing missiles this past week. But also fascinating, is what Iran calls its missiles.

The two that were test-fired on Sunday are named Qader (capable) and Nour (light) “While Nour literally means light, it is also a verse in the Koran,” said BBC Persian journalist, Pooneh Ghodoosi in a phone interview. “It symbolizes the victory of light over darkness – in the war between believers and non-believers.”

Take another: the the Sajjil missile Iran said it tested in 2008:

“This one is very much from the Koran,” Ghodoosi explained. “It is from a verse that talks about how a bunch of birds attack non-believers and throw stones at them. The birds are messengers from God.”

It is not just missiles. Many of Iran’s military operations have political and historical references too.

“These words are able to move and motivate people. It is proof of the ideology behind the war. They are trying to portray this as a battle between holy people and unholy people,” Ghodoosi said.

Many cultures name missiles to send out messages steeped in religion or history. For example, some of Pakistan’s missiles are called Ghauri, Ghaznawi and Abdali.

What do they mean? Well, they’re all names of Muslim conquerors who defeated Hindu rulers – a clear message to arch-rival India (roughly 80 percent of India’s population is Hindu.)

India prefers Sanskrit names. References to weapons used by Hindu Gods also come up. Some of the missiles are called: Agni (fire), Prithvi (earth), Akash (sky), Trishul (trident, also the weapon used by Hindu God Shiva) etc.

There are other reasons behind naming of missiles in India.

W Selvamurthy, chief controller of life sciences and human resources at India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) told the Times of India that missiles are given names that have a “functional meaning and/or a scientific rationale.”

In China “historical or cultural references are not that common,” explained Professor Professor Steven Tsang, director China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham in the UK. “But names have a lot to do with the Leninist-Marxist heritage of the Communist party.”

There are missiles called Red Arrow or Red Bird – direct references to the Communist Party.

China’s Dong-Feng missiles literally mean “East Winds”. “After the launch of the Sputnik, Mao Zedong made a speech in which he declared – “the east wind (communism) prevails over the west wind (capitalism). The names of these missiles may well have something to do with this historic speech,” said Tsang.

China is no stranger to controversy about how its military names munition. The Taipei Times reported last year that Taiwan wasn’t pleased at the prospect of China calling it’s aircraft carrier “Shi Lang”.

Shi Lang was a Chinese admiral who crushed resistance in Taiwan and took over the island in the 17th century.