Last modified: 2008-08-02 by ian macdonald
Keywords: brazil | south america | sword (winged) | sword (gold) | southern cross | cruzeiro do sul |
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image by Joseph
McMillan
Before unification of the armed forces ministries into a single Ministry
of Defense in 2000, the Minister of Aeronautics used a flag divided vertically,
the hoist green with a golden yellow lozenge throughout and the Brazilian
coat of arms on it, the fly blue with the Cruzeiro do Sul (Southern
Cross) constellation in white stars. A booklet published by the Ministry of Aeronautics in
1944 showed the coat of arms without the rays and scroll, but an apparently reliable unofficial
Brazilian Air Force website shows
it with both.
Sources: Ministério da Aeronáutica, Dimensões e Modelos
de Bandeiras, Insígnias e Sinais em Uso na Aeronáutica do Brasil (Rio
de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1944
Unofficial
Força Aérea Brasileira website.
Note: Although the images on the website as well as the
plates in the booklet appear to show 2:3 proportions, the text of the booklet
is clear that they should be (or should have been?) 3:4.
Joe McMillan, 29 April 2001
A recent visit to the
unofficial Força Aérea Brasileira website
indicates that the Commander of the Brazilian Air Force (the successor
position to the former Minister of Aeronautics) is now using the same flag
formerly used by the Minister.
Joseph McMillan, 2 June 2001
image by Joseph
McMillan
Sources: Ministério da Aeronáutica, Dimensões e Modelos
de Bandeiras, Insígnias e Sinais em Uso na Aeronáutica do Brasil (Rio
de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1944;
Unofficial Força Aérea Brasileira website
Joe McMillan, 29 April 2001
image by Željko Heimer
Five-pointed star in the shape of a simplified star from the national
coat of arms. The arms are each divided into green and yellow and the star is surmounted by
two concentric disks of white and blue.
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000.
Željko Heimer, 25 March 2001
The Brazilian naval air arm "Aviação Naval" was the first to be
established. According to
Cochrane & Elliott (1998) it was in 1914 while
http://www.scramble.nl/br.htm gives
it as
1916. In any case they use the same roundel since the beginning - now as Comando da Força Aeronaval. It
was accompanied by rudder stripes in blue-yellow-green as seen at
http://www.skytamer.com/roundels/brazil/01.htm and
http://www.skytamer.com/roundels/brazil/02.htm,
which then became a fin flash as seen at the photos at
http://www.scramble.nl/br.htm. A navy anchor is also in use either on the fin
and wings or on the fuselage.
The military air arm (later to become FAB)
was formed in 1918 or 1919 (depending on the source) and adopted a star made of
blue center and yellow-green rays and green-yellow fin flash, as shown here.
Somehow
Cochrane & Elliott (1998) reported it as 1918-1940 and 1945-today marking (http://www.skytamer.com/roundels/brazil/03.htm and
http://www.skytamer.com/roundels/brazil/05.htm (giving another marking to 1943-1945 and no
explanation to 1940-1943), but what make it even more puzzling is the
appearance of the southern cross on the central circle of the roundel. I
checked everywhere for the southern cross....but nothing. No stars at
http://www.scramble.nl/br.htm, no stars at dozen of photos at
http://www.airliners.net (for example -
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/583061/L/),
none in Wheeler (1986) and none in the official site
http://www.fab.mil.br/.
One
thing I did find. Following what looks like a South America custom, non-camouflaged
planes have rudder stripes and not fin flashes (see
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/588416/L/).
Cochrane & Elliott (1998) also reported another roundel
from 1943-1945. It is the basic roundel
(with the Southern Cross....) on a blue circle with a-la-American white bars
bordered blue - see http://www.skytamer.com/roundels/brazil/04.htm.
Cochrane & Elliott (1998) reported this roundel as one used by
the Brazil Expeditionary Force which used USAAF planes and just changed the
stars. I looked and found a photo of
P-40 of the Expeditionary Force, alas....no bars, and no southern
cross....see
http://paginas.terra.com.br/lazer/cobras/imagens/feb11-new.jpg
and almost concluded the issue as a
Cochrane & Elliott (1998) fantasy. But
no....I also found a P-47D at
http://www.iis.com.br/~mdau/textoi.htm and
there they are - bars and southern cross, and a note that the BEF trained on
P-40 in Panama.....but went to war on P-47's.
So the conclusion is that the Brazil Expeditionary Force did use a
roundel with stars, and those by mistake (or carelessness of the artist),
found themselves also to his presentation of the regular roundel.
Dov Gutterman,
12 June 2004
image by Dov Gutterman
The Força Aérea Brasileira uses a square vertical bicolor (green-yellow) as a
fin flash.
Dov Gutterman, 7 October 1999
