[imagesource: AFP]

Boris Johnson has wanted a new paint job for the RAF Voyager (Britain’s version of Air Force One) since he served as Foreign Secretary, calling it a ‘Brexit Plane’ that would herald in a new era for Britain.

Brexit heralded in something, although I’m not convinced it was the shining new era everyone was hoping for.

But, Johnson did get his shiny newly painted plane. Let’s call it ‘Hair Force One’ in honour of the Prime Minister.

Here’s ‘Hair Force Two’:

Right, enough of that. On to The Telegraph and the new plane.

As Prime Minister and nearly £1 million of taxpayer’s money later, Mr Johnson has succeeded in having his official military jet repainted, complete with a Union Flag.

In a statement the Royal Air Force said the RAF Voyager “Vespina”  was previously “visually indistinguishable from the rest of the Operational Voyager Fleet”.

“This external paint scheme will better reflect its VIP mission and contribution to ‘Global Britain’,” it said.

I start worrying when the words “global Britain” are thrown around. The last time they tried to take over the globe it didn’t go very well for everyone else.

A ‘before’ of the plane looking rather forlorn:

And the spruced-up version:

Very nice, although not the best idea in the midst of a global pandemic.

When the cost of the aircraft came to light Mr Johnson was accused by his own MPs of “lurching from one PR disaster to another” after it emerged it had cost £900,000 [around R19 million] to have his official military jet repainted.

Tory MPs expressed disbelief that Mr Johnson would consider spending such a sum on a “vanity project” at a time when public finances are stretched to the limit. However Number 10 said the paint job would mean the aircraft “can better represent the UK around the world with national branding”.

Then there’s the issue of the Union Flag:

After footage was released on Thursday of the aircraft taking off from Cambridgeshire, flag enthusiasts were quick to point out that the UK’s national flag had been painted on “upside down”.

They took to Twitter to let their frustrations be known, with one user asking how the Ministry of Defence “could allow this to happen?”

Another wrote: “Union flag is upside down on the Royal Air Force Voyager! Really can’t make it up how incompetent this government is!”

Observe:

And again:

Despite the outrage, the Navy claims that the flag is, in actuality, correct.

…“convention is for the flag design to appear as though it is flying from a flag placed on the nose of the aircraft, as it travels through the air”.

“When viewing the starboard side (right hand side), this can give the mistaken impression that the design is backwards, or upside down, when in fact the observer is simply viewing the reverse side of the flag.”

Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist at the Flag Institute, confirmed this.

He told The Telegraph that the flag painted on the starboard will “always have the equivalent of the flagpole on the opposite side to what a laymen might expect, i.e towards the front of the vehicle, because it’s how you paint flags on vehicles full stop”.

That was more than I’d ever hoped to know about flags.

The rest of the Telegraph’s article is a deep dive into flags, how to fly them, and how to tell if they’re the right way up.

If that’s your thing, head here.

All that for a paint job.

[source:telegraph]