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The Royal Air Force Badge
At an Air Council meeting on 1 August 1918, a badge for adoption by the Royal Air Force was approved. The badge adopted was similar in design to the one used today with the exception that the circlet surrounding the eagle comprised a garter and a buckle. The badge was not submitted at any time to the King or to the College of Arms for approval.
The original designer of the Royal Air Force badge is not known, but it has been suggested that he was a tailor at Gieves Ltd (Tailors) and the bird he drew was an albatross. At an Air Council meeting in December 1922, decreed the badge as worn on the head dress which did not include a garter and buckle but just the crown and eagle with circlet was to be used at all times. In January 1923, the new badge was submitted to the College of Arms for registration, the covering letter stating the design received the approval of the King simultaneously with other details of the Royal Air Force uniform.
In May 1925, the College of Arms was asked to prepare coloured sketches of the badge, it being stipulated that whilst the details of the approved badge should stand, any modification of mere drawing, e.g. the eagle's body and the sprig of laurel, could be left to them [the College]. The College of Arms produced a colour drawing which was placed on file. The question of improving the badge was again raised in May 1941, the feeling being that a more war-like eagle might perhaps be adopted. However, nothing was changed. So far as can be ascertained, the design registered with the College of Arms in 1923 is still the official badge of the Royal Air Force, and although a version in heraldic colours (with some artistic licence) was produced in 1925 (mainly in connection with Royal Air Force drums), it seems never to have been intended that it should replace the original black and white drawing, except, perhaps where it was necessary to produce a badge in colour.
Whilst there may be papers in existence which may be at variance with this view, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the badge now produced on Air Ministry Orders is the official badge of the Royal Air Force.
Note: It would appear that a considerable effort was made in 1949 to produce a definitive Royal Air Force badge and at least one authority, writing in A New Dictionary of Heraldry edited by Stephen Friar and published in 1987, asserts that: The official badge of the Royal Air Force has been in existence since 1949 and is blazoned, " In front of a circle inscribed with the motto Per Ardua Ad Astra and ensigned by the Imperial Crown an eagle volant and affronty Head lowered and to the sinister."
The Royal Air Force Motto
" Per Ardua ad Astra"
As far as can be ascertained, the motto of the Royal Air Force dates back to 1912 and the formation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The first Commanding Officer of the RFC (Military Wing) was Colonel Frederick Sykes. He asked his officers to come up with a motto for the new service; one which would produce a strong esprit de corps.
Shortly after this, two junior officers were walking from the Officers' Mess at Farnborough to Cody's Shed on Laffan Plain. As they walked, they discussed the problem of the motto and one of them, JS Yule, mentioned the phrase "Sicictar ad Astra", from the Virgilian texts. He then expanded on this with the phrase "Per Ardua ad Astra", which he translated as, "Through Struggles to the Stars". Colonel Sykes approved of this as the motto and forwarded it to the War Office. It was then submitted to the King, who approved its adoption.
The question of where this motto had come from can be answered by he fact that Yule had read it in a book called "People of the Mist" by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. In the first chapter was the passage, "To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device 'Per Ardua ad Astra'".
As to where Sir Rider Haggard obtained this phrase is still unclear although it is possible that it originated from the Irish family of Mulway who had used it as their family motto for hundreds of years and translated it as "Through Struggles to the Stars".
The authoritative translation of the motto is just as unsure as the source. Since there can be a number of different meanings to 'Ardua' and 'Astra', scholars have declared it to untranslatable. To the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Air Forces though it will remain "Through Struggles to the Stars". It is peculiar to the Royal Air Force and has been made famous by the heroic and courageous deeds of our air forces over the years.
Source - RAF Website
At an Air Council meeting on 1 August 1918, a badge for adoption by the Royal Air Force was approved. The badge adopted was similar in design to the one used today with the exception that the circlet surrounding the eagle comprised a garter and a buckle. The badge was not submitted at any time to the King or to the College of Arms for approval.
The original designer of the Royal Air Force badge is not known, but it has been suggested that he was a tailor at Gieves Ltd (Tailors) and the bird he drew was an albatross. At an Air Council meeting in December 1922, decreed the badge as worn on the head dress which did not include a garter and buckle but just the crown and eagle with circlet was to be used at all times. In January 1923, the new badge was submitted to the College of Arms for registration, the covering letter stating the design received the approval of the King simultaneously with other details of the Royal Air Force uniform.
In May 1925, the College of Arms was asked to prepare coloured sketches of the badge, it being stipulated that whilst the details of the approved badge should stand, any modification of mere drawing, e.g. the eagle's body and the sprig of laurel, could be left to them [the College]. The College of Arms produced a colour drawing which was placed on file. The question of improving the badge was again raised in May 1941, the feeling being that a more war-like eagle might perhaps be adopted. However, nothing was changed. So far as can be ascertained, the design registered with the College of Arms in 1923 is still the official badge of the Royal Air Force, and although a version in heraldic colours (with some artistic licence) was produced in 1925 (mainly in connection with Royal Air Force drums), it seems never to have been intended that it should replace the original black and white drawing, except, perhaps where it was necessary to produce a badge in colour.
Whilst there may be papers in existence which may be at variance with this view, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the badge now produced on Air Ministry Orders is the official badge of the Royal Air Force.
Note: It would appear that a considerable effort was made in 1949 to produce a definitive Royal Air Force badge and at least one authority, writing in A New Dictionary of Heraldry edited by Stephen Friar and published in 1987, asserts that: The official badge of the Royal Air Force has been in existence since 1949 and is blazoned, " In front of a circle inscribed with the motto Per Ardua Ad Astra and ensigned by the Imperial Crown an eagle volant and affronty Head lowered and to the sinister."
The Royal Air Force Motto
" Per Ardua ad Astra"
As far as can be ascertained, the motto of the Royal Air Force dates back to 1912 and the formation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The first Commanding Officer of the RFC (Military Wing) was Colonel Frederick Sykes. He asked his officers to come up with a motto for the new service; one which would produce a strong esprit de corps.
Shortly after this, two junior officers were walking from the Officers' Mess at Farnborough to Cody's Shed on Laffan Plain. As they walked, they discussed the problem of the motto and one of them, JS Yule, mentioned the phrase "Sicictar ad Astra", from the Virgilian texts. He then expanded on this with the phrase "Per Ardua ad Astra", which he translated as, "Through Struggles to the Stars". Colonel Sykes approved of this as the motto and forwarded it to the War Office. It was then submitted to the King, who approved its adoption.
The question of where this motto had come from can be answered by he fact that Yule had read it in a book called "People of the Mist" by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. In the first chapter was the passage, "To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device 'Per Ardua ad Astra'".
As to where Sir Rider Haggard obtained this phrase is still unclear although it is possible that it originated from the Irish family of Mulway who had used it as their family motto for hundreds of years and translated it as "Through Struggles to the Stars".
The authoritative translation of the motto is just as unsure as the source. Since there can be a number of different meanings to 'Ardua' and 'Astra', scholars have declared it to untranslatable. To the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Air Forces though it will remain "Through Struggles to the Stars". It is peculiar to the Royal Air Force and has been made famous by the heroic and courageous deeds of our air forces over the years.
Source - RAF Website
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