It is everywhere, to put it bluntly.

I have beaten Oblivion in just about every way possible, but I still love it. Almost if not all major and minor quests, all achievements on xbox 360 after doing it on the pc twice after hard drive wipes then on the ps3 after my xbox broke. So when i heard about Skyrim's announcement i thought i would change things up and play some Morrowind. In my travels I noticed the skyrim logo, the one of the dragon in the diamond shape as seen at the end of the cinematic and the announcement trailer. It is every where. All over Vivec and tons of other places, basically where ever there is a tapestry on a wall.

Just thought I should point that out.

It is a TES symbol. I am sure it is in Daggerfall and Arean as well. Could be wrong. Maybe as you said, it's all over Morrowind I am so use to seeing it, I am misremembering beig in TES I and II. I love that symbol, I think it looks great.

It's an Imperial logo, in fact it appears on the cover of Morrowind (in addition to a few other symbols).

It's the Imperial dragon, the symbol of the Empire - that's why you'll find it all over the Imperial forts and in towns like Pelagiad and Caldera.

thanks for the clarification. guess i need to pay more attention to the lore.

*looks at Morrowind box*

..yeeeeaah.

On a more serious note, all of those logos have the diamond between the top wings intact. The Skyrim one doesn't.

I think the Skyrim one is just trying to look like old stone, so it's crumbling. (and we know that the Empire is also crumbling, so it's very fitting)

The diamond represents the Amulet of Kings, which was shattered when Martin sacrificed himself.

you really should, it is pretty interesting at some points

check out the customs and excise warehouse in seyda neen...

Yup! Symbol of the Empire, been around since Redguard I think. It was on the uniforms of Imperial soldiers, as seen http://uesp.net/wiki/File:Redguard-Attrebus.gif.

where/what book is the best place to get a crash course on the lore?

There is no single book that serves as a crash course on lore. You might find books that serve as crash course on a specific aspect of the lore though. For example Caius Cosades has a basic history book on Morrowind in his house and the Brief History of the Empire series is just what the title says.

You could visit Jobasha's bookstore in Vivec and read some of the books on his shelves to get started.

Edit: You could also visit the http://www.imperial-library.info/ website.

okay, thanks.