The emblem, also used as a flag, by the Bandit Union, formally called the Union of Bandits and Pirates of Keystone. In practice, every bandit gang, terrorist cell, and pirate ship flew their own unique flag and colour. The Bandit Union was, as its name implies, a confederation of diverse criminal elements on planet Keystone rather than a tight and rigid military organisation. It did, however, attract mercenaries with military experience and its leadership strove for military efficiency and discipline among its trained fighters. The leader of the group was
Constantine Bronstein, who designed and used the emblem as his personal banner.
Bronstein was a veteran of the colonial wars of the 3250s and early 3260s. He hailed from the "prosperous backwater" world of Keystone in the Outer Colonies. After serving in the Army for fifteen years, he returned home to a world he no longer recognised; the battles against the CLO had revealed to him the brutality of the Terran government, the corruption of its officials, and the social and economic injustices done to colonials in the Empire. He went into the wilderness and became a bandit, eventually connecting most of the bandit gangs, street gangs, and pirates of the planet into a federation under his leadership. With vast sums of money for bribery and expert hackers, he set in place a scheme to deorbit defence satellites and smuggle warheads into cities. The plan went by gradually, each piece falling into place, until his wrath was unleashed in the Keystone Incident of 3280. Over three million people were killed by Bronstein's attacks, including 620,000 killed in the capital district of Lakeside City, from a combination of nuclear bombs, conventional explosives, chemical gas attacks, and crashing most of the planet's satellite network into the surface. Bronstein himself was assassinated by a State Sec and Interstellar Police strike team two weeks after the bombing of Lakeside.
The emblem Bronstein used in all of his public addresses and videos, and which his bandits carried into battle, and which continued to be used by remnants of the Bandit Union for several months after his assassination, consists of a black keystone and several black skulls on a crimson field representing death, piracy, and banditry, with a white-outlined star representing radical revolt. The Bandit Union was more than just a criminal syndicate or a network of gangs; it was a terrorist organisation responsible for some of the most heinous acts of terrorism perpetrated in the 33rd century.