Is the Union Flag upside down on Boris Johnson's £900,000 plane?
The makeover of the Prime Minister’s plane has been slammed, with flag enthusiasts claiming it has a huge design problem.
A number of people have taken to social media to say they think the Union Flag on the plane’s tail is upside down.
According to the UK Flag Institute, the Union Flag should have the broad white stripe above the red stripe in the top left hand corner to be the correct way up.
Martin J Keatings was one of the first to make the observation, tweeting: ‘HAHAHAHAHAH! Wait a f****n minute! The tail is painted wrong! The right-hand top quarter of the union flag on the tail is incorrect. The red bar should be at the top half of the white, not the bottom! #TailFail’
Fazzat Like wrote: ‘Even before the paint job was revealed I just knew they’d make an a**e of it. Broad white stripe top left, it really isn’t difficult.’
Amused pedant Julian Self wryly observed: ‘Well, the inverted flag is a known distress signal, and the plane will be occupied by Boris Johnson, so it actually does seem singularly appropriate.’
‘Could we require him to fly everywhere upside down?’ added Bill Hayden.
But others pointed out that actually the flag is correct, because it’s a mirror image of the flag on the port side.
The Union Flag on the port side of the tail fin is correct, because the front of the plane acts as the flagpole.
It comes after the plane was unveiled yesterday, with a new Union flag on the tailfin and ‘United Kingdom’ written in gold on the fuselage.
Before this, it was just a military grey colour, but Boris Johnson decided this wasn’t up to scratch.
The RAF Voyager, a military plane shared by the Prime Minister and the royal family, was repainted white at a cost of almost £1 million.
Downing Street said the work would cost ‘around £900,000’ and would mean that the plane could better represent the UK around the world with ‘national branding’.
But the cost of the respray was condemned by opposition politicians when it was revealed earlier this month.
Officials have insisted the plane would still be able to fulfil its military role as an air-to-air refuelling tanker.
At the time the price tag was revealed, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: ‘That incorporates the cost of creating a design that will promote the UK around the world without compromising the plane’s vital military role.
‘At every stage we have worked to ensure value for money for the UK taxpayer and all of the work has been undertaken in the UK, directly benefiting British suppliers.’
Mr Johnson has previously questioned why the plane was grey, saying he would like to have a ‘Brexit plane’ to help him travel the world and promote the Government’s vision of global Britain.
He also complained in 2018 while foreign secretary that the RAF Voyager jet, which is shared by the Prime Minister, senior Cabinet members and the royal family, ‘never seems to be available’.
According to the UK Flag Institute, the Union Flag should have the broad white stripe above the red stripe in the top left hand corner to be the correct way up.
Martin J Keatings was one of the first to make the observation, tweeting: ‘HAHAHAHAHAH! Wait a f****n minute! The tail is painted wrong! The right-hand top quarter of the union flag on the tail is incorrect. The red bar should be at the top half of the white, not the bottom! #TailFail’
Fazzat Like wrote: ‘Even before the paint job was revealed I just knew they’d make an a**e of it. Broad white stripe top left, it really isn’t difficult.’
Amused pedant Julian Self wryly observed: ‘Well, the inverted flag is a known distress signal, and the plane will be occupied by Boris Johnson, so it actually does seem singularly appropriate.’
‘Could we require him to fly everywhere upside down?’ added Bill Hayden.
But others pointed out that actually the flag is correct, because it’s a mirror image of the flag on the port side.
The Union Flag on the port side of the tail fin is correct, because the front of the plane acts as the flagpole.
It comes after the plane was unveiled yesterday, with a new Union flag on the tailfin and ‘United Kingdom’ written in gold on the fuselage.
Before this, it was just a military grey colour, but Boris Johnson decided this wasn’t up to scratch.
The RAF Voyager, a military plane shared by the Prime Minister and the royal family, was repainted white at a cost of almost £1 million.
Downing Street said the work would cost ‘around £900,000’ and would mean that the plane could better represent the UK around the world with ‘national branding’.
But the cost of the respray was condemned by opposition politicians when it was revealed earlier this month.
Officials have insisted the plane would still be able to fulfil its military role as an air-to-air refuelling tanker.
At the time the price tag was revealed, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: ‘That incorporates the cost of creating a design that will promote the UK around the world without compromising the plane’s vital military role.
‘At every stage we have worked to ensure value for money for the UK taxpayer and all of the work has been undertaken in the UK, directly benefiting British suppliers.’
Mr Johnson has previously questioned why the plane was grey, saying he would like to have a ‘Brexit plane’ to help him travel the world and promote the Government’s vision of global Britain.
He also complained in 2018 while foreign secretary that the RAF Voyager jet, which is shared by the Prime Minister, senior Cabinet members and the royal family, ‘never seems to be available’.