Obama Removes U.S. Flag from Campaign Plane

Netlore Archive: Email flier chastises presidential candidate Barack Obama for removing an image of the American flag from the tail of his campaign jet.

Description: Email flier
Circulating since: July 2007
Status: True, with spin

Email example contributed by Michele B., July 31, 2008:

INTERESTING ! Change? What Kind of Change Are You Looking For??? Obama The Patriot - Removes American Flag From His Plane Barack Obama recently finished a $500,000 total overhaul of his 757. And as part of the new design, he decided to remove the American flag from the tail... What American running for President of the United States would remove the symbol of his country? And worse, he replaced the flag with it his own symbol... Please forward this on if you're not ashamed of your country or its flag & think this is a disgrace!

North America Airlines logo (Photo by Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Comments: Individual observers will have differing opinions as to how "disgraceful" it really is, but the basic claim that an image of the American flag on the tail of Obama's campaign plane was replaced with the "Obama '08" logo is true.

The painted-over flag (see photo at right) was part of the logo of North America Airlines, which owns and operates the Boeing 757 chartered by the Obama campaign since March 2008. The plane was refurbished inside and out in July.

Obama logo (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images)

The company markings, which included flag symbols on both the fuselage and the tail, were replaced with the Obama campaign logo and the now-familiar slogan "Change We Can Believe In." (John McCain's campaign jet, though supplied by a different airline, has been similarly customized.)

It bears pointing out that a small American flag actually does appear on Obama's refurbished plane -- in the same (and only) location it appears on McCain's -- right next to the tail number. Neither candidate, that is to say, strove particularly hard to convert their official campaign transportation into a symbol of patriotic fervor.

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Sources and further reading:

Obama Campaign Plane Poised to Depart from Chicago for Mid-East and Europe
Chicago Sun-Times blog, 20 July 2008

Obama Road Blog: Wheels Down in Amman, Jordan
Barack Obama campaign website, 21 July 2008

North American Airlines Operates Campaign Aircraft for Barack Obama
North American Airlines press release, 23 July 2008

Presidential Hopefuls Crisscross U.S. in Customized Chartered Jets
AINOnline.com, 1 August 2008

O-Force One
CBS News blog, 3 August 2008

Last updated: 08/04/08

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