A ubiquitous symbol attatching itself to all things Mod, or all things not Mod depending on your point of view, the target logo has undeniably become a cultural icon in its own right.

Naturally the target or roundel was no 1960s creation, it has a history within heraldry dating back to the 12th Century. The French aviation authority utilised roundels adorned in the colours of the Tricolore on their planes during the First World War in an attempt to prevent troops shooting down their own aircraft. The British Royal Air Force after trying various alternatives opted for a similar roundel design on their planes, but with the blue and red swapped round. 

Then Pop-Art 'found' the roundel. American artist and sculptor Jasper Johns is commonly credited with popularising the iconic design. Beginning in 1954 after he destroyed all his existing artwork, Johns began a series of works characterized by their incorporation of familiar imagery, such as flags, maps and targets. He would continue to explore the aesthetics and ambiguity of these symbols throughout his career in various mediums, including sculpture and printmaking. His iconic 1955 piece "Target With Four Faces" (below) famously recreated the target with loosely applied visible brush-strokes and four female faces in plaster cast.

Peter Blake would bring Jasper Johns idea across the Atlantic and take it even further when he purchased a Slazenger archery target, before applying acrylic paints to make the item appear more 'real'. Blake entitled his 1961 piece "The First Real Target" (below), which some saw as a slight swipe at the originality of the work of other artists including Johns. Blake himself claimed that the work challenged abstract artists who couldn't acknowledge that the symbol they were using was a target, and that his artwork "was an actual target but it was also a comment on the fact that nobody had admitted it was a target".

The design had now become a Pop-Art staple and it was at this point that bands such as The Who began to be associated with the symbol. The bands first manager and key figure in the 60s Mod subculture Peter Meaden was not impressed by his former protogees latest fashion direction insisting that Pop-Art had nothing to do with the Mod scene and that The Who had sold out by this point. The band to some extent agreed, with Pete Townshend explaining to Melody Maker in June 1965 that "we think the Mod thing is dying" whilst singing the praises of Pop-Art and proclaiming "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' as the first Pop-Art single. The target itself would become a key part of the bands image, famously adorning a white turtleneck worn by the bands legendary drummer Kieth Moon.

Peter Meadon was nonetheless right in claiming the target had little to do with 60s Mod culture, but by the time the Mod revival came around it was a different matter. On the re-energised Mod scene of the late 70s and early 80s it was difficult to excape the target, and it was during this period it undoubtedly became the ultimate Mod symbol. The Who had navigated back to Mod courtesy of "Quadrophenia" in the 70s, and those Pop-Art fashion statements got gradually rolled into the wider Mod aesthetic. 

So is it the ultimate Mod symbol or the key indicator of all things not Mod ? Who cares. The "Mod" Target is a classic design, clean, straigtforward and just out and out cool. It's easy to see why its been embraced by art, design, and anybody else that can lay claim to it. The target takes alternative colour combinations, works well in a variety of mediums and is instantly recognisable. The Mods and everyone else are lucky to have it.