No. 29 Squadron RAF - Squadron Markings and The "Misspelled Roman Numeral" Tradition

Squadron Markings and The "Misspelled Roman Numeral" Tradition

Since the late 1920s, the squadron marking has been three (red) Xs (XXX). Since this closely resembles the Roman numeral for "29" (XXIX) there is a "traditional" belief among current squadron personnel that this originated as a "misspelling" of the Roman numeral.

Although various versions of the tradition are put forward, the most common explanation is that a mis-understood instruction to ground crew to paint "2 X's in front of the roundel and IX behind it" meaning "X,X,(roundel), and 'IX' or 'one-X')" resulted in "XX(roundel)'one times' X".

In fact, the marking was always applied as "XXX(roundel)XXX" (as illustrated at the head of this article) - or as "XXX(roundel)" on smaller types, such as Siskins - unfortunately, neither lends much support to the "tradition".

It seems probable that the original adoption of "XXX" for the 1930s squadron marking was nothing to do with Roman numerals, but was a reference to the brewers mark for "extra strong", frequently applied to kegs of beer, and that it is only a coincidence that this resembles the numeral for "29" (XXIX). It should be noted that the use of Roman numerals for numbering RAF units is a relatively modern development - in any case it was certainly not the practice in the RAF in the 1920s. Nor, so far as it is known, has 29 squadron ever been officially referred to as "XXX squadron" - or as "XXIX squadron" for that matter.