Thande
Donor
Just a thought. The current air force roundels used by modern countries came about largely through an accident of history. The oft-derided 'target' roundel so common in many airforces is derived from the French Revolutionary cockade, which was chosen as a symbol by the Armée de l'air; French allies then copied it so it would be quickly recognised by French planes and AA. For example, Britain reversed the colours to get the modern RAF symbol (previously using the Union Jack, but that was easy to mistake for the German Iron Cross from a distance) and the United States slightly modified the RAF form by turning the white circle into a star.
Then in WW2 the red centre of the American symbol was too easily confused with the Japanese 'meatball' and thus it was removed, giving us the modern white star on blue circle of the USAF.
So as you can see, what symbols come about are largely due to who's on whose side. If Britain had been allied with Germany in alt-WW1, then presumably RAF (or eqv.) planes would still use a Union Jack symbol. If France had been allied with Germany, perhaps the Germans would use a red-white-black cockade (like modern Egypt) instead of the Iron Cross. If the US had never fought Japan, the modern USAF or equivalent would perhaps still use a roundel that looks comparable to the British and Commonwealth Dominions'.
There are also even more esoteric variations, like how the modern Vietnamese Air Force uses a U.S. airforce symbol recoloured in gold and red, just because they started out with a lot of former US equipment and found it easier to recolour the symbol than repaint a new one.
So what variations on air force symbols could we come up with, assuming an alternate 20th century? And what about air force symbols for countries that no longer exist in OTL?
Then in WW2 the red centre of the American symbol was too easily confused with the Japanese 'meatball' and thus it was removed, giving us the modern white star on blue circle of the USAF.
So as you can see, what symbols come about are largely due to who's on whose side. If Britain had been allied with Germany in alt-WW1, then presumably RAF (or eqv.) planes would still use a Union Jack symbol. If France had been allied with Germany, perhaps the Germans would use a red-white-black cockade (like modern Egypt) instead of the Iron Cross. If the US had never fought Japan, the modern USAF or equivalent would perhaps still use a roundel that looks comparable to the British and Commonwealth Dominions'.
There are also even more esoteric variations, like how the modern Vietnamese Air Force uses a U.S. airforce symbol recoloured in gold and red, just because they started out with a lot of former US equipment and found it easier to recolour the symbol than repaint a new one.
So what variations on air force symbols could we come up with, assuming an alternate 20th century? And what about air force symbols for countries that no longer exist in OTL?
