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Guatemala - Air Force Flag and Aircraft Marking

Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca

Last modified: 2021-08-25 by rob raeside
Keywords: guatemala | fin flash | air force |
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image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 March 2009


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Air Force Flag

Guatemala Air Force flag:
The ratio is 1:2. It is aquarterly divided flag into blue and white. In the centre of the flag is a shield quarterly divided in the same way with a yellow bordure. The 5-point star from the air force roundel with two yellow wings is superimposing the quarters. There is a bowed inscription in black capitals “FUERZA AEREA”(above shield) and “DE GUATEMALA”(below shield).
Source: [ped79a]; p.249
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 March 2009


Aircraft Marking


image by Željko Heimer, 22 October 2001

According to Album 2000 [pay00] - Aircraft Marking - Blue roundel with white five-pointed star throughout with blue disk inscribed. Civil flag is painted on the fin, it is noted.
Željko Heimer, 22 October 2001


Previous Roundel


image by Željko Heimer, 22 October 2001

Military Aircraft Insignia of the World [cos98] gives such roundel for period of 1923-1939 and 1947 onward, with some variations in the shades of blue. During the interim period similar roundel was used, but the star was sixpointed - with inner disk retaining its size, i.e. not touching the inner points of the hexagram. Heraldy would call that a mullet pierced.
Željko Heimer, 22 October 2001

Please note that any star (star polygon) in English heraldry is "a mullet". The star on the first roundel would be "a mullet pierced", that on the second roundel (six-pointed one) would be "a mullet of six points pierced". In French heraldry, however, the first one would be an "molette a 5 raies" and the second a "molette".
Santiago Dotor, 23 October 2001

Recently I was looking through a book that includes a section on world airforces. The book is about WWII. Guatelemalan marking is an azure circle with a Star of David inside which contains a hole taking up most of the star's centre.
Rudi Roo, 17 April 2002

The first roundel (which is also the current rounde) can be seen at <www.skytamer.com/guatemala/02.htm>, The 1939-1947 roundel as in <www.skytamer.com/guatemala/03.htm> appear also in Jan'es 1945 (with inner disc bigger then in the image as reported above).
The Fin Flash (should be rudder stripes) is based on [whe86]).
To day, many planes don't use this roundel. Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca (est. 15 Sept. 1921) used all kind of blue and white (and soetimes also black) finish (sometimes even with rudder stripes) but with no roundel. See <www.scramble.nl> and <www.airliners.net/303064>.
Here is photos of planes using the roundel: in its glory: <www.hornstra.demon.nl/PC7> , <www.hornstra.demon.nl/UH1> and <www.hornstra.demon.nl/Pa31>.
On some planes only small fin flah is used again with no roundel: <www.hornstra.demon.nl/PC7-2> and <www.hornstra.demon.nl/IAI201>.
Dov Gutterman, 17 June 2004

I would like to point out, that the Air Force insignia that you document as having being in use since 1923 (a six-pointed star) until 194xx, is factually, incorrect.
Since the early days of the Cuerpo de Aeronautica Militar de Guatemala (later, the Fuerza Aerea de Guatemala, then the Fuerza Aerea Guatemalteca) the five-pointed star has been the norm.
The six pointed star was a one-time off mistake, committed by a U.S. representative for the Ryan Aircraft company, upon the acquisition of Guatemala, of a second batch of Ryan STM trainers in 1938. 12 were acquired, in two batches of six. The markings were erroneously drawn by the gentleman on a piece of paper, but were not approved by the Guatemalan Air Arm, and the airplanes were delivered with the wrong insignia. Please see attached image of letter.
Proof of this is, that no other aircraft on the fleet did ever carry the six point star, and that as time went by, the Ryan STMs of the second batch, eventually acquired the official five point star insignia. I have plenty of photos to document this.
Tulio Soto, 26 January 2015


Fin Flash


image by Dov Gutterman and Jorge Candeias, 9 October 1999

Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca uses almost square civil flag as a fin flash.
Dov Gutterman , 9 October 1999