Indian Air Force Flags

Last modified: 2005-07-30 by rob raeside
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Air force ensign

by Joe McMillan

The air force ensign of India is influenced by the Royal Air Force ensign with the national flag and roundel of the United Kingdom being substituted for that of India.
Calvin Paige Herring, 2 December 1997

Photographs in the Indian Air Force publication Sentinels of the Sky: Glimpses of the Indian Air Force (New Delhi: Ritana Books, 1999) confirm the 1:2 ratio. The book shows this flag flying over several headquarters buildings, in each case hoisted at a gaff mounted on the pole with a rank flag at the truck of the pole.  Source: Das (1984)
Joe McMillan, 26 January 2003

President's Colour of the Indian Air Force

    by Joe McMillan

Indian military organizations are presented President's Colours as a mark of distinction for meritorious service. The President's Colour of the Air Force as described and depicted in Das (1984) is similar to the Indian Air Force ensign, but 36 x 48 inches and with the Indian Air Force roundel in the upper fly and the Ajanti elephant from the (former?) Presidential standard embroidered in gold in the lower fly. (This elephant is the common element in all President's colours in the Indian armed forces.) However, Sentinels of the Sky shows on page 30 a color photograph of the presentation of the first President's Colour on 1 April 1954, showing the elephant slightly above the middle of the fly and the roundel in the lower fly corner. It could be that the design was changed between 1954 and 1988 when a subsequent colour was presented, or it could be that Das is in error.

The Preside