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image by Frank George Valoczy, 02 Jul 2003
The breakaway province formed its own air force during its brief period
of independence between 1960 and 1963. Fin marking was the national flag
of red over white split diagonally with a green stripe. On the white area
were three orange crosses. Roundels were red, green, and white. The three
crosses were often marked on the central white spot. Later aircraft carried
a simple orange cross.
Source: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World, Cochrane &
Elliott, 1998.
Mark Sensen, 10 July 1997
We have the roundel with review from [cos98]. There is a plate at this
webpage showing the flag as fin flash.
See also this
site and article from "Insignia".
Dov Gutterman, 15 Jun 2004
Description: White field with a light green stripe from upper
hoist to lower fly, charged with a red disc topped with a red “crest”.
Below the symbol, gold letters "PM".
Occurrence: Flag used during a military parade in the Katanga independent
state.
Source: TV-documentary Rhodes nostalgie. The documentary tells
the story of the Jewish community of the island of Rhodes. Most of them
emigrated to Belgian Congo before World War II
and settled in Katanga. Those who remained in Rhodes died in Auschwitz.
Accuracy: Medium. The flag was very clearly depicted by the TV-documentary
but my rendition of the emblem may be approximate.
Meaning: I don't know. PM could stand for Police Militaire (Military
Police). Who can say more? [see forward]
Comment: During the same documentary, the independent
Kasai flag was also shown during a political meeting.
Ivan Sache, 08 Oct 1997
This flag is effectively a Military Police one (PM is for "Prevote Miltaire",
Miltary Provost). The Symbol is a bomb with flames (an old- fashioned
grenade, actually). This comes from the Belgian Army, where the MP has
the grenade as corps badge. The Katangese Army ("Gendarmerie Katangaise")
used the same badges and insignia as the former Belgian Congo's Army ("Force Publique"), except for the officer's rank insignia, where the croisette
replaced a six-pointed star.
Jean-Luc Sohier, 19 Feb 2001
image
by Vanja Poposki, 21 Apr 2012
The flag of the former Katanga Gendarmerie is based on the national flag of
Katanga.
Vanja Poposki, 21 Apr 2012
The saltires in lower fly are actually representations of the typical pig-iron
produced in the mines of Katanga in the pre-colonial era. They were an important
symbol of the short-lived state of Katanga.
Mike Oettle, 21 Apr 2012