The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts including World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. More recently the RAAF participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and is still involved with the War in Afghanistan (2001–present). The motto on the RAAF's coat of arms is the Latin phrase Per ardua ad astra, which means "Through Struggle to the Stars".
Read more about Royal Australian Air Force: Ranks and Uniform, Roundel, Royal Australian Air Force Badge, Future Procurement
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“High from the summit of a craggy cliff,
Hung o’er the deep, such as amazing frowns
On utmost Kilda’s shore, whose lonely race
Resign the setting sun to Indian worlds,
The royal eagle draws his vigorous young”
—James Thomson (1700–1748)
“The Australian mind, I can state with authority, is easily boggled.”
—Charles Osborne (b. 1927)
“The evergreen woods had a decidedly sweet and bracing fragrance; the air was a sort of diet-drink, and we walked on buoyantly in Indian file, stretching our legs.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“... what is especially insufferable in a woman is a restless, bold, domineering manner, for this manner goes against nature.... [ellipsis in source] No matter what her worth, no matter that she never forgets that she could be a man by virtue of her superiority of mind and the force of her will, on the outside she must be a woman! She must present herself as that creature made to please, to love to seek support, that being who is inferior to man and who approaches the angels.”
—Elisabeth-Felicite Bayle-Mouillard (1796–1865)