The Royal Australian Air Force

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

is used by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

and the

Australian Air Force Cadets The Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC), known as the ''Air Training Corps (AIRTC)'' until 2001, is a Federal Government funded youth organisation. The parent force of the AAFC is the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Along with the Australia ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and overseas. It is based on the Australian national flag, with the field changed to Air Force blue, and the

southern cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

tilted clockwise to make room for the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of dif ...

inserted in the lower

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

quarter. The roundel is a red leaping kangaroo on white within a dark blue ring. The

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

was proclaimed as a Flag of Australia under section 5 of the Flags Act on 6 May 1982. The southern cross is tilted so that Gamma Crucis stays in the same position as for the Australian National Flag and that Alpha Crucis is moved along the x-axis towards the hoist by one-sixth of the width of the flag. This results in the axis being rotated 14.036° clockwise around Gamma Crucis and each star is rotated in this way, although the constellation as a whole is not simply rotated.

History

Royal Australian Air Force security force members pose with the RAAF ensign in Afghanistan

The RAAF was established in 1921. On 24 July 1922, the British

Royal Air Force Ensign The Royal Air Force Ensign is the official flag which is used to represent the Royal Air Force. The ensign has a field of air force blue with the United Kingdom's flag in the canton and the Royal Air Force's roundel in the middle of the fly. ...

, a sky-blue

British ensign In British maritime law and custom, an ensign is the identifying flag flown to designate a British ship, either military or civilian. Such flags display the United Kingdom Union Flag in the canton (the upper corner next to the staff), with eith ...

with the RAF roundel in the

, was approved as the ensign of the RAAF. This flag was used until 1948, when the RAAF asked to change the flag to avoid confusion. A warrant for the new flag, which had the roundel in the lower fly of sky-blue ensign with

Commonwealth Star The Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star, the Seven Point Star, or the Star of Federation) is a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia which came into force on 1 January 1901. Six points of the Star represen ...

and tilted southern cross to match the Australian national flag, was given in 1949. The RAAF adopted a distinctive roundel on 2 July 1956; a red kangaroo replacing the red circle of the British version. The old roundel remained on the ensign, however, until 1981, when

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

Queen of Australia Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

approved the change to the current flag. Although the flag is only flown by the RAAF, dispensation was granted to New Lambton Public School, NSW on 18 May 1995 to fly the RAAF ensign. This was in recognition of the school's involvement with the RAAF during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when it was requisitioned by the government and used as ''No. 2 Fighter Sector Headquarters''. New Lambton Public School is currently the only school in Australia with permission to fly the RAAF ensign. Contains excerpt of letter from Air Vice-Marshal Bob Richardson, 1995-05-18 File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg, 1922–1948 File:Air Force Ensign of Australia (1948–1982).svg, 1949–1982 File:Air Force Ensign of Australia.svg, 1982–present

References

External links

* {{Australian Flags Flags of Australia Royal Australian Air Force National symbols of Australia Air Force ensigns Southern Cross flags 1982 establishments in Australia Flags displaying animals Light blue ensigns Flags introduced in 1982

History

See also

References

External links