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Sabena (Belgian Airlines System)

Société Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne

Flag of Sabena ca. 1995-2001 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 31 March 2025

History of Sabena
Flag of Sabena
Old flag of Sabena

See also:

Belgium

History of Sabena

Sabena was founded on 23 May 1923, and opened its first scheduled service between Brussels and Strasbourg (France) in 1924. Scheduled services were further opened to London, Paris and Amsterdam.
The first successful flight between Brussels and Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) occurred in 1925, and a scheduled service between these two cities opened in 1938 (56 hours of flight).
In 1947, the first transatlantic service to New York was opened.
In 1953, Sabena was the first airline in the world to launch an helicopter scheduled service, between Brussels and the European capitals.
In 1964, Sabena carried for the first time more than 1,000,000 passengers in a year.
In 1969, a scheduled service to Tokyo was opened. Then followed scheduled services to Montevideo and Santiago (1974).

Due to increasing financial problems, SABENA signed a partnership agreement with Air France in 1992. Air France withdrew in 1994.
In 1995, Sabena signed a partnership agreement with Swissair, which took a 49.5% equity holding. In 1998, SABENA was among the founding members of the Qualiflyer group, created by Swissair, which increased its equity holding to 85%.
In 1999, Sabena carried for the first time more than 10,000,000 passengers in a year and served 165,000 flights (83.1% in Europe, 6;6% to Africa, and 9.2% transatlantic).
In April 2001, the fleet included 12 long-haul aircrafts and 66 median-haul aircrafts. Sabena had 11,000 employees and 1,500 more in outstations.

Sabena was liquidated on 6 November 2001 after 78 years of existence.

Source: SABENA website

Ivan Sache, 13 March 2004

Brussels airlines was created following the merger of Virgin Express and SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA), the company subsequently created after the bankruptcy of SABENA.

Olivier Touzeau, 24 November 2024

Flags of SABENA

Flags of Sabena before 2001

A blue flag with the logo, made of the letters sabena and the emblem on the upper right of the letters, could be observed in the last years of the company: articles here in 2019 and here in 2021 about its liquidation in 2001.

Olivier Touzeau, 31 March 2025

After its bankrupcy in 2001, the defunct carrier’s name was taken up by a somewhat related Paris-based aircraft maintenance / repair / overhaul company, Sabena technics, up until 2014, when its Brussels operation become independent under the name Sabena Aerospace. This uses an unrelated logo with a stylized wing (see also here).

António Martins, 25 February 2025

Flags of Sabena after 1973

Flag of Sabena and its variant after 1973 - Images by António Martins, 10 January 2025

In 1973, Sabena adopted its current logotype, a stretched blue S on white, which was put on a blue field.
A variant shows a white airplane in the upper right corner and the words 'belgian world airlines' in white below the emblem.

Mark Sensen, 12 July 2001

I used the details shown in this 1977 brochure for the lettering and for the airliner outline in the variant flag, and of the logo itself for both. The exact geometry of the logo in this 1977 source is slightly different from what is given in Wikimedia Commons, which seems to be a later 1990s version, guessing from the lettering. The typeface in the variant flag (right) is not an exact match.

António Martins, 10 January 2025

Even later on, the Sabena logo underwent further modifications, or at least variations, namely a “window blinds” version used at least in some aircraft liveries (photo, photo) and other media, if not also on company flags.

António Martins, 25 February 2025

Flags of Sabena before 1973

Older flags of Sabena - Images by António Martins, 11 January 2025
Left, before 1963
Right, 1963-1973

The former flag of Sabena is divided by a white saltire, with black, blue, red and yellow triangles and a yellow star in the blue field. The symbolism is fairly obvious, combining the Belgian colours with those of the Belgian Congo.
We are not convinced that the design is similar enough to that of Burundi to have inspired the latter.
Congo-Kinshasa (later Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo) became independent in June 1960, and the yellow star was dropped from the flag in 1963.

Source: Michel Lupant Flaggenmitteilungen [fbn] #100, 20 July 1984.

Mark Sensen & Vincent Morley, 12 July 2001

Images with 2:3 ratio, medium shades of blue and red, regular yellow for both the star and the lower quadrant, and black quadrant at the hoist.

António Martins, 11 January 2025

Other reported versions of the former flag of Sabena

Left, after Evans - Image by Vincent Morley, 3 November 1997
Right, after Ivanov - Image by Mark Sensen, 17 March 1996

The flag of SABENA shown on I.O. Evans' The Observer's Book of Flags [eva63] has the red triangle at hoist and the black one at fly. The proportions appear to be 8:11 and the yellow of the star is brighter than that in the lower segment of the flag.

Vincent Morley, 3 November 1997

K.A.Ivanov [iva71] also reports the old flag of Sabean with the red triangle at hoist and the black one at fly.

Mark Sensen, 17 March 1996