In Klingonese language, pIqaD is a written language form used by Klingons in the era of their initial conflict and alliance with the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation. pIqaD characters were readily identifiable as being a Klingon invention, carved or written with pointed strokes and blade-like curves, resembling the ornate weapons popular in Klingon culture.
Different versions of pIqaD have different alphabetic makeups, probably owing to the unification of the many regional dialects of Qo'noS's inhabitants, throughout Klingon history. Two major versions of Klingonese script were common during the 23rd and 24th centuries. (ST reference: The Klingon Dictionary; TOS video game: The Final Frontier; Skybox card)
- In The Original Series, only a few Klingon symbols were shown, as decals on the D7-class starship models. These original examples of Klingon script were later used as the basis of a Klingon alphabet developed by fans Geoffrey Mandel and Doug Drexler, and were later included in licensed works, including TOS video game: The Final Frontier. This original Klingon language was only used sparingly in early canon productions, meaning that the bulk of it was never seen onscreen, and remains non-canon. Graphic artists working on TOS movies: The Motion Picture, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home devised a somewhat different Klingon writing systems, which was later adapted by Michael Okuda and his graphics team to be used throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation and all later Star Trek films and television series. A Skybox card set establishes some transliteration references for the canon alphabet, assigning English letters to different characters, but when the language was used in canon, there was no translatable text. In most usages, Klingonese characters were simply spaced out in varying patterns as set decorations, without having any real message.