Alliance to Restore the Republic

The Alliance to Restore the Republic, commonly known as the Rebel Alliance, Alliance, or the Rebellion, was a resistance movement formed by Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to oppose the reign of the Galactic Empire. Before the Alliance came to be, another less organized movement to oppose the Empire existed, which was secretly led by Organa. This early group came together from a series of rebel cells, including the crew of the Ghost and the Phoenix Cell. The Atrivis Resistance Group was one of the first cells to join what Mothma began calling "the Alliance", before the formal formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Alliance was publicly and formally declared with the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance and the document of the Declaration of Rebellion.

The Alliance and the cells before it were born from the overall discontent within the Empire who wished the Old Republic restored whose efforts were led by renegade members in the Imperial Senate such as Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and later, his daughter Leia Organa and made up from the citizens of the Empire and defectors from the Imperial Military such as Jan Dodonna, Ryder Azadi and Wedge Antilles. Founded and united by Organa and Ahsoka Tano, the early rebels were assisted by surviving Jedi, such as Kanan Jarrus, and his Padawan, Ezra Bridger. Clone Wars veterans such as Captain Rex also assisted in the initial movement.

As opposed to waging all-out war, the Alliance waged a war of attrition against the government, establishing small bases across the galaxy instead of controlling an entire planet.

When the Alliance successfully stole the plans for the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, and destroyed the space station in the Battle of Yavin with the help of Luke Skywalker, the tide of the war began to change and the Rebel threat began to prove a severe thorn in the Empire's side, and continued to engage in battles with the Empire in the Galactic Civil War. However, under the command of Darth Vader, the Imperial forces succeeded in defeating the Alliance on Hoth, forcing the Alliance to scatter their forces in order to survive.

Eventually, the Alliance prevailed against the Empire and critically damaged it when they launched an attack against the second Death Star during its construction in what would become the Battle of Endor. Not only did the Alliance manage to destroy the super weapon, but the Imperial Navy was severely crippled by the loss of one of their Super Star Destroyers, and Luke Skywalker managed to redeem his father, Darth Vader, who killed Emperor Sheev Palpatine, before dying himself in the battle. The Alliance was soon reorganized into the fledgling New Republic which would later defeat the Empire at the Battle of Jakku, and force the Empire to surrender by signing the Galactic Concordance, effectively ending the war.

By the time of the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance had chosen a red starbird as its symbol and logo.