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Airforce ranks (South Africa)

Chief of the Air Force
Commander Second Level
Commander Third Level
Officer Commanding Certain Air Force Stations and Units

See also:

Chief of the Air Force

image by Paige Herring, 16 March 1998

Commander Second Level

image by Paige Herring, 16 March 1998

Commander Third Level

image by Paige Herring, 16 March 1998

Officer Commanding Certain Air Force Stations and Units

image sent by Paul Dubois, 23 Apr 2003 (flipped horizontally)

Could you possibly tell me the origins of this SAAF flag. It features the SAAF eagle in the top left hand corner. (Apologies for scanning the back of the flag!?) All I know is that this flag was used at Swartkops Air Force Base.
Paul Dubois, 23 Apr 2003

The South African Air Force (SAAF) flag shown by Paul Dubois is a rank flag for an "Officer Commanding Certain Air Force Stations and Units" and was used between 1966 and 1986 and was officially described as: "A rectangular sky blue flag with a gold representation of the eagle of the South African Air Force in the upper hoist canton. The flag is 610 mm wide and 914mm long. The gold eagle has an overall measurement of 370 mm".
A pennant form with the gold eagle in the centre was the rank flag for "Officers commanding certain superior Air Force Formations".
The eagle in this form, viz: an eagle with its head turned sinister and its wings outspread and standing upon a scroll bearing the words PER ASPERA AD ASTRA (through hard times to the stars), was also the emblem found on the South African Air Force ensign used between 1967 and 1970, although the scroll was later dropped.
Rank flags of the SAAF were changed on 15 April 1986.
This information is contained in SAVA Journal 2/93 entitled: Flags of the Union Defence Forces and of the South African Defence Force, 1912-1993 by Prof H H Smith (July 1993) [hhs93].
Bruce Berry, 24 Apr 2003