The flag of the United States Air Force was introduced in 1951 and consists of the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

's crest and shield, which itself comprises 13 white stars and the Department of the Air Force's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

on a field of blue. The 13 stars represent the 13 original British American colonies, the three star grouping at the top portray the three Departments of the Department of Defense (Army, Navy, and Air Force). The crest includes the North American

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

(the national bird of the US), the cloud formation depicts the creation of a new

firmament In biblical cosmology, the firmament is the vast solid dome created by God during his creation of the world to divide the primal sea into upper and lower portions so that the dry land could appear. The concept was adopted into the subsequent ...

, and the wreath, composed of six alternate folds of silver and blue, incorporates the colors of the basic shield design.

History

The flag was officially adopted by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

on 26 March 1951. Elements of the flag's design are used on the Department of the Air Force seal as well as the U.S. Air Force's service mark. Dorothy G. Gatchell designed the flag itself, whereas the crest and shield that are featured on it were designed by Arthur E. Dubois. The flag's design has remained unchanged since its introduction in 1951.

Design

There are two differently-sized variants of the flag that are used officially. A large one with an aspect ratio of 33:26, which also serves as the flag of the U.S. Air Force's headquarters element, and a smaller-sized variant with an aspect ratio of 4:3. The larger variant, known officially as the "Ceremonial Departmental Flag" and also referred to as being "Ceremonial"-sized, can be adorned with a 2-inch-wide fringe and campaign streamers, whereas the smaller variant may not be adorned with campaign streamers. The flag itself consists of the "crest and shield" of the U.S. Air Force, defacing a field of blue. The exact shade of blue that is used for the field is Ultramarine Blue on the Pantone Matching System color scale.

Streamers

Verified combat credit entitles an organization to the appropriate

campaign streamer Campaign streamers are decorations attached to military flags to recognize particular achievements or events of a military unit or service. Attached to the headpiece of the assigned flag, the streamer often is an inscribed ribbon with the n ...

s representing the named campaign in which it participated. The campaign streamer will be embroidered with the name and years of the campaign. Non-combat service is represented by an organizational service streamer, which is not embroidered.http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi34-1201/afi34-1201.pdf

History

Design

Streamers

Mexican Revolution

World War I

World War II

American Theater

European African Middle Eastern Theater

Asiatic-Pacific Theater

Korean War

Vietnam War

Persian Gulf War and Iraqi no-fly zones

Kosovo War

Global War on Terrorism

See also

Notes

References

Further reading