Origins
Upon the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918, rank titles and badges for ORs were adopted from the British Army, specifically the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The RFC ranks of Warrant Officer Class I, Warrant Officer Class II, Flight Sergeant, Sergeant, and Corporal were directly adopted, although the four-bladed propeller above the Sergeants' and Flight Sergeants' chevrons was dropped. The double-bladed propeller used as the badge of rank for an RFC Air Mechanic 1st Class was introduced as the trade classification badge for Leading Aircraftman. The rank of Aircraftman replaced the RFC rank of Air Mechanic 2nd Class.
Read more about this topic: RAF Enlisted Rank Insignia
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)