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South African airforce markings

South African fin flash
South African air force roundel

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South African fin flash

scan sent by Dov Gutterman, 12 Oct 1999

I have some doubt about former South African fin flash. In one source it appears as the RAF flash (horizontal r-w-b) as Australia and New Zealand. In another source the red is replaced by orange. In this photo its look like green (or greyish blue) and orange. Was the fin flash changed with the flag ?
Dov Gutterman, 12 Oct 1999

The South African air force did use the RAF fin flash as other former colonies (AU,NZ,CA) . AU and NZ are using it even now. It is possible that the different sources show different fin flashes eras. It seems that until the flag was changed a blue-white-orange fin flash was used, but it is possible that it was changed too with the flag.
Dov Gutterman, 18 Oct 1999

South African air force roundel

This photo may be of interest: It shows the camouflage version of the SAAF roundel adopted in 1958 on a Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk6 (license-built version of the North American F-86 Sabrejet). Incidentally, this aircraft is still flyable and is for sale, asking price of US $125,000.
Theodore Leverett, 08 Aug 2000

This is not the camouflage version, but the standard SAAF roundel in use between 1957-1994 which shows the springbok on a represantation of Cape Town castle. It replaced the former 1947-1957 roundel (the RAAF/RNZAF type with springbok and orange instead of red). In 1994 the springbok was replaced by an eagle.
Dov Gutterman, 08 Aug 2000

The SAAF flags shown on FOTW show the roundel's background as blue. Was the blue version not used on aircraft?
Theodore Leverett, 08 Aug 2000

If you check the photo, you will see that the roundel background is dark blue. The roundel was in darker shade than the one in FOTW, since the SAAF is not using only 16 colour gifs
Dov Gutterman, 08 Aug 2000