IAF to have a new ensign; Flypast involving 120 aircraft at Prayagraj on October 8

The major attraction of the Air Force Day celebration will be a two hour long multi-directional flypast in which 120 aircraft will take off from 10 different bases and fly over the confluence in various formations. More than 20,000 school children and Defence Attaches from various embassies will be in the audience.

The Indian Air Force on October 8 will unveil a new ensign at the 91^st Air Force Day to be celebrated at Prayagraj where a flypast involving 120 aircraft will take place over the Sangam area.

The new flag will have the air force crest in the top right corner of the ensign, towards the fly side. "This has been created to better reflect the values of the IAF," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The IAF has not released any image of the new ensign, which will be unveiled by the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.

The major attraction of the Air Force Day celebration, however, will be a two hour long multi-directional flypast in which 120 aircraft will take off from 10 different bases and fly over the confluence in various formations. More than 20,000 school children and Defence Attaches from various embassies will be in the audience.

While the IAF’s latest inventory C295 will take part in the flypast, this will be the last appearance for MiG21 that heralded the jet age in the IAF and served for nearly six decades. “This will be the last flypast of a MiG-21 anywhere in the world,” said an official.

The IAF has number plated one MiG21 squadron last year and three more will be phased out in the next three years. By 2025, there will not be any MiG-21 in the IAF.

Other participating aircraft in the flypast include vintage platforms like Tigermoth, Harvard and Dakota and fighters like LCA Tejas, Rafale, Su-30MKI, Mirage-2000 and MiG-29. There will also be transporters and helicopters.