Last modified: 2024-08-31 by martin karner
Keywords: ukraine | airforce | roundel | aircraft marking |
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image located by William Garrison
source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ukrainian_Air_Forces.jpg
caption:
English: Ukrainian flag of the "consolidated detachment" of
Ukrainian Air Forces
In September 2014, the process of filling a new
detachment of Ukraine's Air Forces with volunteer fighters has started. These
servicemen were soon engaged in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). Servicemen
are stationed near the city of Avdiivka Donetsk region. Despite heavy shelling
and extreme hardships, they continue to defend an important foothold close to
the Donetsk airport.
Exhibition Ukrainian flags-relics at St. Sophia Square
in Kyiv (23–25 August 2015)
William Garrison, 16 August 2022
image by Nozomi Kariyasu, 31 May 2024
The nationality of the air force aircraft is identified by a circle, square, cross, star, or other shape
painted on the fuselage. France was the first country to create a nationality marking (roundel) painted on the
wings and fuselage of military aircraft, which could be called a "national flag in the sky" in 1912. The
roundel was a concentric circle with blue in the center, white and red on the outside, and the same design is still
used today. It is said to have originated from the circular cap badge cocarde, a circular ribbon of the same colors
as the tricolor flag that was attached to hats during the French Revolution.
The following year, in 1913, Serbia and Romania adopted the roundels, using the colors of their national flags and
following the French roundel. In the same year, in Asia, the Republic of China adopted a star-shaped roundel
instead of a circle based on the five-color flag, which was the national flag at that time. The year 1914 saw the
spread of the practice of placing roundel on military aircraft in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Around the same time, the directional rudders were also painted with vertical fin flashes in the national flag
design. Later, the fin flash was repositioned from the rudder to the vertical tail.
During wartime, the color and design of the roundel of the home country were sometimes changed to make them easier
to distinguish from those of the enemy. During World War II, the change in British roundel was particularly
noticeable. In Europe, where it fought against Germany, the white circle was removed from the wing roundel, and in
Asia, where it fought against Japan, the red circle was removed. The United States also frequently changed it
roundels during the war, removing the red circles to make them easier to distinguish from the Japanese and to
prevent misfiring by friendly forces.
After World War II, many new countries were born and new roundels were created. The Vietnam War prompted the U.S.
Air Force to introduce a smaller, less visible, less colorful nationality mark, and many countries followed suit.
As with flag designs, military aircraft markings have often been changed after political upheavals, such as the
overthrow of a government.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 19 May 2024
Getting independent from Russia in 1917 brought Ukraine almost to chaos, No less then four local air corps were formed, and if you add foreign corps that joined the "celebration", it is quite understood that no one found the time to put thing in order concerning marking. [cos98] reported various markings but I suspect that each report is made upon a single photo and there were much more variations.
There was "Povitrovvi Fl'ot" (Ukrainian People's Republic Air Fleet) and there was the Aviation Regiment of the Ukrainian Galician Army of the Western Ukrainian Peoples Republic and there was the Army of the Don Republic and there was the Red Ukrainian Air Fleet.
[cos98] reported that the Povitrovvi
Fl'ot used: white disc with yellow blue rings, yellow outlined
trident, yellow (fully colored) trident, chequered 2x2 blue yellow square, blue trident on yellow
square bordered blue. Ukrainian
Galician Army is reported to have a yellow-blue roundel and yellow skull and
bones on white disc bordered blue. Don Republic used blue triangle on white
disc. Red Ukrainian Air Fleet used the Red Army marking. Website (gr.fipu.krasnoyarsk.edu)
show a yellow-blue roundel and national flag as fin flash.
In 1991 Ukraine Air Force (www.mil.gov.ua)
adopted new markings consist of blue yellow roundel (www.airliners.net/210034)
and yellow trident on red shield as fin flash (www.airliners.net/452812).
Those markings are used until today.
However, incorrectly [cos98] shown
those markings are in 1991–1992, reports show that from 1992 onward markings
are a yellow shield on a blue disc, both as roundel and fin flash. I
thing that the base for this mistake is that in 1992, the Ukraine
air force sent a MiG-29C for series of displays and air-shows in
USA and Canada. As needed by this occasion, the plane was
re-painted in blue-yellow finish and trident-on-shield-on-disc markings (www.airliners.net/311644).
As far as sources show, this was the only plane that had such
markings. As expected, the media was overwhelmed by the sight of
the former enemy best fighter come to a such visit, and spread
the photos everywhere (I found 12 websites show photos of this
plane). This was probably enough to come to conclusion that those
are the new Ukrainian marking. However, there were 6 years
between this visit and [cos98] in
which other photos were published, including another well painted MiG-29UB that
visit the UK in 1996 with proper marking (www.airliners.net/301495)
so this could be fixed ...
Dov Gutterman, 27 June 2004
Regulation of aircraft markings by the
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (in Ukrainian).
located by Zachary Harden
See also: World map with roundels (picture)
According to L'Album 2000 [pay00]
– Airforce Aircraft Marking – Yellow and blue roundel.
Željko Heimer, 13 May 2003
According to L'Album 2000 [pay00]
– Naval Aircraft Marking – Yellow and blue roundel with a black
anchor in the blue disk.
Željko Heimer, 13 May 2003
This website shows 4 August 2015 as
the date it was adopted, along with relevant specs.
Zachary Harden
According to L'Album 2000 [pay00]
– Dark blue roundel with yellow trident symbol.
Željko Heimer, 13 May 2003