In the telegram dated January 30, in which it was announced that a "British China Squadron" of R-A.F. Hurricane fighters is being formed as a result of the contribution of £102,000 from British communities in China, it was reported that the Ministry of Aircraft Production stated:
After it has been ascertained what amble community requires ithe squadron to carry, whether it wishes each plane to be named after some prominent personality or place, the procedure for the Air Ministry is to name a new or existing squadron in appropriate detail.
It is now desired to evolve a suitable emblem to be carried on each machine. For this purpose the Committee of the Voluntary war contribution Fund invite Britons to send in their suggestions for a such a device. There will be no prize given for the design which the Committee deems best, the competitor being rewarded by the knowledge that his design will be adopted by the squadron, which in itself would indeed bea great honour. The Committee of the fund will be the judges to decide which is the best effort submitted. Competitors should, however, remember that it will be impossible to use the Chinese dragon and designs embodying that particular device will not be considered. There are plenty of other typical Chinese forms which can be utilized so that the banning of the dragon from designs should create no particular hardship, and indeed make a greater test of the competitor's ingenuity. It also needs to be emphasized that the British China Squadron will consist of Hurricanes and not Spitfires, so that the emblems which the latter name suggests will not prove applicable. Probably the greatest desideratum will prove to be simplicity of design, for the simpler and bolder it is the more it should commend itself to those who will like the enemy to know that the British community in China is wholeheartedly behind the Mother Country and the Empire in this fight for the rights of Democracy. Most devices which have up to the present appeared on British aeroplanes have been painted on the side of the fuselage, and for this reason it is suggested that competitors should confine their efforts to pictorial devices which might even take the shape of an essay into heraldry, though of course without the dragon. The real test of the successful entry will undoubtedly be its complete appropriateness, and it should not be difficult to design something which will be symbolic of the source from which the machines who carry it have come. This competition is not merely for those who have some ability with the pencil and the paintbrush, though they will undoubtedly have somewhat of an advantage, for what is wanted is the best idea and it may very well prove that it is not an artistic entry which will gain the day but the best suggestion which can later be put into shape by capable draftsman. Entries should be sent to the Voluntary War Contribution Fund Committee, care of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, or the Chartered Bank of India, Australia China in covers bearing the inscription "British China Squadron Competition" by March 7 which will be the closing date of the competition.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.