Star Defender

A Star Defender was a term for a medium-sized capital ship in the Galactic Republic. The Republic chose the term defender instead of a more menace inducing term because of their pro-peace stance. The term was used throughout the history of the Republic to describe capital ships in general and did not necessarily tie in with a specific class of ship until the Star Defender-class was created circa 14 BBY.

The term originated with the idea that the Republic was pacifistic and the defenders of innocents. The capital ships became synonymous with their reputation as defenders and became symbols of that defense. Thus, the peoples of the Republic coined the term Star Defender to describe any ship, usually capital, with Republic affiliation.