The central element of the emblem is a cosmonaut figure and three large stars, one for each launching crew member: American astronaut Jeff Williams (dark blue star), Space Adventures participant Guy Laliberte (light blue star) and their Russian spacecraft commander Maxim Surayev (red star) who will safely guide his crew to the International Space Station.
The flags of the cosmonauts' home countries - Russia, the United States and Canada - are shown at the top of the shield. In the upper left corner, simple shapes symbolize the building blocks of the universe and life on Earth.
The 'cradle of mankind', from which the mission originates, is depicted by a growing plant, gradually transforming into a fiery rocket trail and a spacecraft, bound for the International Space Station. The ISS is drawn like a gold star, with nine rays for each crew member present when the Soyuz TMA-16 has arrived.
The plant and rocket trail together form a '16', the Soyuz TMA mission number.
The Earth in the background has the typical grid pattern seen in earlier Soviet and Russian space logos, heralding all heroes of the Vostok, Woskhod and Soyuz flights of the past.
The surnames of Williams and Laliberte are accompanied by the NASA and One Drop Foundation logos respectively. In the same area, a small red star and small blue star are included for the future, safe return of Surayev and Williams, who together will land in the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft in March 2010.