Last modified: 2019-05-15 by rob raeside
Keywords: united kingdom | ba | british airways | bea | boac |
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image by Miles Li and Martin Grieves, 17 July 2008
A white-red-white horizontal triband, with two blue crowns in the upper white
stripe and one blue crown in the lower white stripe. In the middle red stripe
are the letters BEA.
Miles Li, 12 January 2015
image by Miles Li and Martin Grieves, 12 January 2015
A yellow-edged blue swallowtail flag with the BOAC highly stylized
flying bird in yellow.
Miles Li, 12 January 2015
The Speedbird emblem was designed in 1932 by Theyre Lee-Elliot as a logo for
Imperial Airways, and retained in 1940 when Imperial Airways and the original
British Airways combined into the British Overseas Airways Corporation. First
reference to its use on a flag, that I have found, is in Campbell & Evans, ‘Book
of Flags’, 1953. BOAC and British European Airways merged in 1974 to form
British Airways, which adopted a new flag based on the shield of its coat of
arms; ‘Observer’s Book of Flags’, William Crampton,
1979.
David Prothero, 9 February 2016
image by Miles Li and Martin Grieves, 12 January 2015
There was also a variant (as flown in the 1960s) which was rectangular
(proportions 1:2) with a field in navy blue, without a border, bearing a yellow
speedbird.
Miles Li, 12 January 2015
image by Miles Li, 20 April 2019
The pennant of Imperial Airways (1924-1939) was rarely used: an example is in
the British Airways Heritage Collection.
Miles Li, 20 April 2019