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Katanga (Congo) - Military flags

(Secessionist State 1960-1963)

Katanga - Airforce roundel 1960-1963
Katanga - Military Police flag

See also:

Katanga - Airforce Roundel (1960 - 1963)

image by Frank George Valoczy, 02 Jul 2003

The breakaway province formed its own air force during its brief period of independence between 1960 and 1963. Fin marking was the national flag of red over white split diagonally with a green stripe. On the white area were three orange crosses. Roundels were red, green, and white. The three crosses were often marked on the central white spot. Later aircraft carried a simple orange cross.
Source: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World, Cochrane & Elliott, 1998.
Mark Sensen, 10 July 1997

We have the roundel with review from [cos98]. There is a plate at this webpage showing the flag as fin flash.
See also this site and article from "Insignia".
Dov Gutterman, 15 Jun 2004

Katanga - Military Police Flag

image by i>Ivan Sache, 08 Oct 1997

Description: White field with a light green stripe from upper hoist to lower fly, charged with a red disc topped with a red “crest”. Below the symbol, gold letters "PM".
Occurrence: Flag used during a military parade in the Katanga independent state.
Source: TV-documentary Rhodes nostalgie. The documentary tells the story of the Jewish community of the island of Rhodes. Most of them emigrated to Belgian Congo before World War II and settled in Katanga. Those who remained in Rhodes died in Auschwitz.
Accuracy: Medium. The flag was very clearly depicted by the TV-documentary but my rendition of the emblem may be approximate.
Meaning: I don't know. PM could stand for Police Militaire (Military Police). Who can say more? [see forward]
Comment: During the same documentary, the independent Kasai flag was also shown during a political meeting.
Ivan Sache, 08 Oct 1997

This flag is effectively a Military Police one (PM is for "Prevote Miltaire", Miltary Provost). The Symbol is a bomb with fllames (an old- fashioned grenade, actually). This comes from the Belgian Army, where the MP has the grenade as corps badge. The Katangese Army ("Gendarmerie Katangaise") used the same badges and insignia as the former Belgian Congo's Army ("Force Publique"), except for the officer's rank insignia, where the croisette replaced a six-pointed star.
Jean-Luc Sohier, 19 February 2001