Last modified: 2007-04-14 by bruce berry
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The Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force was formed in June 1979 and operates a small number of light transport planes and helicopters.
Military Aircraft Insignia of the World (Cochrane and Elliott, 1998) [cos98] reports the national flag is found on tail and since its drawing shows the shape of the IAI 201
tail based on the photo at http://www.airliners.net/open.file/086789/L/
See also: http://www.fighter-jets.de/fighterjets/luftwaffen.php?land=swa&attr=swa&teil=s
Dov Gutterman, 25 June 2004
Bheki Gama, in "The Swazi Observer", 21 March 2007, reports that the
proposed new design of the police flag has caused stir in Swaziland:
"The Swazi Observer has been inundated with calls from concerned citizens
with regards the new-look flag flown at the country’s police stations and
institutions.
Rife suspicions were to the effect that the national flag had been made
miniature to the police flag. However, this development has been put to its
correct perspective. This was viewed as giving the police superior powers over
the entire nation. Both flags are protected by the country’s constitution.
(...)"
From the rest of the article, which is not too clear for those not familiar with
Swaziland, it seems that the controversy was caused by the inclusion of the
national flag somewhere in the proposed police flag;
"Government spokesperson Percy Simelane said having the national flag embedded
into that of police flag had no particular significance. He said more than
anything this was a work of art. “Clothing designers have been using the
national flag on their creations and that does not mean they had powers over the
country,” he said.
He added that the flag as used by the police was a symbol of identification,
noting that the symbol of the lion was also used by police elsewhere. Simelane
likened the matter to the church where the symbol of Jesus Christ is smaller
than the building. “That does not mean the building is mightier than Jesus,” he
said."
Unfortunately, nothing is said in the article about the proposed new design for
the Swaziland police flag.
Ivan Sache, 21 Mar 2007