Questions i hope belong here!

Um, hello. As you probably guessed i am new here, so i hope these questions are in the right place, as they do come the PT. Also if they have been asked, sorry! So without further a due:

1) Why is the Jedi Councile so weak?
Like in Episode I, Qui Gon just goes against the wishes of the councile right in front of them 'i take anakin as my padawan learner' and 'i will do what i must Obi Wan.' I mean, what is the whole point of a Jedi Master Status and Councile if your Knights are just going to undermind you. Choosen one or not, if Mace just said 'NO!' then star wars would have been a short movie!

2) Was the Imperial marker the marker of the Republic?
You know how the Empire has the 'Cog' as its marker, when you watch Episodes II and III it is one Republic clone trooper ships and Jedi starfighers, was it the republic symbol or just on the ships that the people on the clone world built.

That is it, looking forward to some answers!!!

 

Question 1 - Jedi Council

When Qui Gonn says 'I will train Anakin then' the council DOES say 'no'. They say its impossible and that he already has a Padawan. Then Yoda says 'young skywalkers fate will be decided later'. Its only when Qui Gonn dies do the council accept Obi Wans offer to train him. So the council did say no to Qui Gonn.

Also, Qui Gonn isnt on the council because he goes against their wishes a lot. So in movie terms, Qui Gonn didnt get what he wanted. It was only when he died that Obi Wan approached the council to train Anakin.

Question 2 - Republic Symbol

Yes, the Republic Insignia does become the Empire insignia. According to the Star Wars books:
The Republic Insignia is an ancient symbol by Bendu Monks whose eight spokes signifies the force in the galaxy. Palpatine later defaces the symbol by removing two spokes and it becomes the Empire's symbol.

Hope that helps!

 

For question 1 take into consideration that Qui-Gon Ginn isn't a knight but a respected jedi master. I am sure if a knight were to talk like that to the council he would be bossed around a bit more.