U.N.C.L.E. is an acronym for the fictional
United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, a secret international intelligence agency featured in the TV series
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international law-enforcement agency called...
and
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy-fi TV series that aired on NBC for one season from September 16, 1966 to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and used the same theme music except with a slightly different, harder-edged arrangement.-Synopsis:The Girl...
. Both were 1960s
TVTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
series produced in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
U.N.C.L.E. is an organization consisting of agents of all
nationalitiesNationality is the relationship between a person and their state of origin, culture, association, affiliation and/or loyalty. Nationality affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state....
. Involved in maintaining political and legal order anywhere in the world, it is multinational in makeup and international in scope, protecting and defending nations regardless of size or political persuasion.
U.N.C.L.E. is an acronym for the fictional
United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, a secret international intelligence agency featured in the TV series
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international law-enforcement agency called...
and
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy-fi TV series that aired on NBC for one season from September 16, 1966 to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and used the same theme music except with a slightly different, harder-edged arrangement.-Synopsis:The Girl...
. Both were 1960s
TVTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
series produced in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
U.N.C.L.E. is an organization consisting of agents of all
nationalitiesNationality is the relationship between a person and their state of origin, culture, association, affiliation and/or loyalty. Nationality affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state....
. Involved in maintaining political and legal order anywhere in the world, it is multinational in makeup and international in scope, protecting and defending nations regardless of size or political persuasion. U.N.C.L.E. operates in Communist and
Third WorldThe term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned or neutral with either capitalism and NATO or communism and the Soviet Union...
countries the same way that it does in the Western nations. Its primary opponent is the independent international criminal organization,
THRUSH-Birds:* Thrush , any of the many birds in the Turdidae family* Antthrush, any of a group of birds within the Formicariidae family* Dohrn's Thrush-babbler , a species of bird in the Timalidae family...
.
Headquarters
U.N.C.L.E.
headquartersHeadquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The corporate headquarters is the entity at the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
is in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
near the lower
East 40's
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
.
U.N.C.L.E. HQ has four levels: one ground level; two higher levels (Waverly's office is on the top floor) and one sub-level. The roof has radar, a laser beam weapon, a
helipadThe word helipad is a portmanteau meaning helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. Though helicopters can usually land anywhere preferably flat , a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can land...
and communication antennas, disguised as billboards, that have a world-wide reach. Below the sub-level, there is an underground docking area and a tunnel that runs under the
United Nations headquartersThe United Nations Headquarters is a distinctive complex in New York City that has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1950...
giving U.N.C.L.E.'s boats access to the
East RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
.
The HQ is designed as a fortress hidden in the center of a block of buildings with
BrownstoneBrownstone is a brown Triassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also understood to be a terraced house clad in this material.-Brownstone dwellings:...
apartments serving as the exterior facade. On one end of the block is a public parking garage (complete with machine gun bays hidden in the ceiling). On the other end is a three-story whitestone building. The first and second floors of the whitestone are occupied by The Mask Club, a sort of
Playboy ClubA Playboy Club was originally one of a chain of nightclubs owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises until 1991, with the first club opening at 116 E. Walton in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States on February 29, 1960. The clubs were essentially bars with entertainment, featuring Playboy...
-like, members-only "key club" in which the waitresses wear masks. On the third floor are located the offices of U.N.C.L.E.'s propaganda front, a charity fundraising organization.
There are four primary entrances to U.N.C.L.E. HQ. In the daytime, field agents are admitted by way of Del Floria's, a small, nondescript tailor/dry-cleaning shop located one flight below street level. The agents go to the single fitting booth and turn the coat hook on the back wall. Outside in the shop, an operator activates a mechanism on the pressing machine that releases the disguised armored door. The wall swings inward and an agent finds him/herself in the main admissions area. There, a receptionist pins on a security badge (white or later, yellow for highest security clearance; red and green for low clearance and visitors). A chemical on the receptionist's fingers activates the badge. There are also entrances through the Men's and Women's lockers at the rear of the parking garage (admissions for non-field personnel). After hours, when Del Floria's is closed, agents may also enter through the Mask Club or through the offices of the charitable organization.
Although in theory the location of U.N.C.L.E.'s New York HQ is supposed to be secret, the very first episode of the series, "The Vulcan Affair", demonstrated that it was a poorly-kept secret, at best, as the very teaser of that episode shows THRUSH operatives infiltrating U.N.C.L.E. headquarters through Del Floria's entrance in an attempt to mount an armed assault and kill U.N.C.L.E. head
Alexander WaverlyAlexander Waverly is a fictional character from the 1960s television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and its spin-off series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.....
. Other episodes showing THRUSH's knowledge of the location of U.N.C.L.E. headquarters include "The Deadly Games Affair", "The Deadly Decoy Affair" and "The Mad Mad Tea Party Affair" (all first-season episodes). In "The Deadly Decoy Affair", the Del Floria entrance is even used for egress during a high-profile prisoner transfer during daylight hours.
The New York office is but one of several located around the world -- and some also use the Del Floria tailor shop as a front (as seen, for example, with U.N.C.L.E.'s
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
headquarters in "The King of Knaves Affair").
Logo
The official
logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
of the organization is a black
globeA globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
with some lines of longtitude and
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
picked out in white. Black
concentricConcentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. Circles, tubes, cylindrical shafts, disks, and spheres may be concentric to one another...
rings surround the globe; to the right of it is the black
silhouetteA silhouette is a view of an object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black...
of a man in a black suit holding a
gunIn military parlance, a gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm...
at his side, and a black band beneath the globe and the man features the name "U.N.C.L.E." in outlined letters. The logo is normally superimposed on a map of the world--yellow-brown continents with no
countryIn geography, a country is a geographical region. The term is often applied to a political division or the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region...
borders (a tribute to the one-world
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
of U.N.C.L.E.) and blue seas--but is also used plain or with tones inverted on official U.N.C.L.E. documents.
Section I: Policy and Operations
This is the administrative branch. It contains the five chiefs of U.N.C.L.E. as well as all sector and station chiefs. There is a conference for everyone in this section yearly as well as an annual meeting of the five chiefs alone.
The five chiefs administer the business of U.N.C.L.E. from five regional offices that correspond loosely (but not exactly --- there is overlap) to the five major continents. The five offices are: New York, Caracas, Nairobi, New Delhi and Berlin. Alexander Waverly is the head of the New York regional office.
Section II: Operations and Enforcement
This is the section that contains the field agents like
Napoleon SoloNapoleon Solo is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The series was remarkable for pairing the American Solo and the Russian Illya Kuryakin as two spies who work together for an international espionage organisation at the height of The Cold War...
,
Illya KuryakinIllya Nickovetch Kuryakin is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..The series was remarkable for pairing an American Napoleon Solo and the Russian Kuryakin as two spies who work together for an international espionage organisation at the height of the Cold War...
, April Dancer and Mark Slate. It seems that each of the regional offices has a Chief of Enforcement who functions as second-in-command. Solo is Waverly's Chief of Enforcement.
Section III: Enforcement and Intelligence
These are the lower level field agents, junior enforcement agents, couriers and the like.
Section IV: Intelligence and Communications
This is the beginning of the support personnel sections. Any agent who works at a computer terminal or provides information for the field agents are members of this section.
Section V: Communication and Security
This section contains more support people, such as all the secretaries and communication people.
Section VI: Security and Personnel
Security guards and those who handle personnel matters (like hiring and medical insurance processing) are members of this section.
Section VII: Public Relations and Propaganda
Ironically, little is known about U.N.C.L.E.'s public relations front other than it is located on the third floor of the whitestone building adjacent to the N.Y. headquarters and functions as U.N.C.L.E.'s propaganda front and charity fundraising organization.
Origins
According to
The Cloak and Swagger Affair, a documentary about the making of the series included with the 2007 DVD release, the producers of
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. originally intended to leave the meaning of the U.N.C.L.E. acronym a mystery (just as the meaning of THRUSH was never revealed in the series). The documentary states that after a protest from the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
, which did not want to be connected to a fictional organization, the writers came up with a meaning that also became part of the series' trademark closing credit, thanking the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement for its' cooperation with the producers of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
External links