[caldrail]

The cocarde (pie) roundel was changed for the triangle just before the war, because when wedged between Germany, Great Britain and France at war, it's nice if your roundels don't look British or French.

The national flag as roundel was, if i recall correctly, only used in the Pacific. They changed the triangle to the national flag (red white and blue) in 1942. The triangle could be mistaken for the Japanese red circle, especially from further away. I remember my grandma telling me about the b25 with national flags as roundels flying over the internment camp she was in on the day of the capitulation, dropping leaflets . It was a huge morale booster!

After the war, a white border was added to the national flag. After 1948 the cocarde was chosen again as national markings, and it still is.

Wikipedia said that Dutch Spitfires in the RAF 320 sqd used both RAF and Dutch triangles, but I haven't seen any photos. Do they mean the orange triangle on the nose/next to the RAF roundel, or did they drop the RAF markings and had only the triangle?

Brill. Thanks for that