The Royal Canadian Airforce

(www.cmhg.gc.ca)
When the Canadian Air Force was authorized in February 1920, they were given the dark blue uniform seen in this painting of a pilot ranking as a lieutenant. Rank was shown by the traditional army system of crowns and stars, and pilots wore wings on the left breast. King George V granted the designation Royal Canadian Air Force in 1923. When the service was made a permanent part of the Department of National Defence the following year, it adopted the lighter 'RAF blue' uniform worn by its British counterpart. Reconstruction by Ron Volstad. (Canadian Department of National Defence)

Flight Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force, circa 1941-1943

This Flight Sergeant of the RCAF is dressed in the flight suit worn by Commonwealth aircrew in temperate climates. This man wears the life jacket (known as a 'Mae West' after the American actress), oxygen mask and leather flying helmet appropriate to a fighter pilot on operations over the English Channel. The RAF blue battledress was largely identical to that worn by the Royal Air Force, differing most visibly through the addition of 'Canada' over the albatross patches on the upper arm. Reconstruction by Ron Volstad. (Canadian Department of National Defence)
                    

Leading Aircraftwoman, Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, 1942-1946

A member of the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, which was formed in 1941 and eventually recruited more than 16,000 volunteers. Beginning in September 1942, many of these women served in Britain; by 1945 more than 1,300 of them were serving there. The Leading Aircraftwoman (her rank is shown by the propeller badge on her sleeve) shown here was a plotter at a Sector Control Room in the south of England. Canadian women serving outside Canada wore the "CANADA" badge on the upper sleeve. Reconstruction by Ron Volstad. (Canadian Department of National Defence)
All artwork courtsey of www.cmhg.gc.ca