Posted on Oct 4, 2017
SGT Medical Nco Paarng
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Just wondering if anyone knows the history.
Posted in these groups: F3af5240 Military History
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SGT Morrison  (Mike) Hogwood
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President Kennedy picked the colors,Air Force one was going to be red and gold? and President kennedy thought is was to royalty like,blue was one of his favorites,but there are other theories about this
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SSG Aircraft Mechanic
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This article tells the story, or what some may call urban legend, of how the current color scheme came to be.

http://www.aiga.org/air-force-one-the-graphic-history
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SSG Aircraft Mechanic
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There's also this excerpt from Wikipedia... ( I know, I know...)

SAM 26000

Under John F. Kennedy, presidential air travel entered the jet age. He had used the Eisenhower-era jets for trips to Canada, France, Austria, and the United Kingdom. Then in October 1962, the U.S. Air Force purchased a Boeing C-137 Stratoliner, a modified long-range Boeing 707—Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000.

The Air Force had designed a special presidential livery in red and metallic gold, with the nation's name in block letters. Kennedy felt the aircraft appeared too regal, and, on advice from his wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, he contacted the French-born American industrial designer Raymond Loewy for help in designing a new livery and interiors for the VC-137 jet. Loewy met with the president, and his earliest research on the project took him to the National Archives, where he looked at the first printed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence; he saw the country's name set widely spaced and in upper case in Caslon typeface. He chose to expose the polished aluminum fuselage on the bottom side and used two blues – slate-blue associated with the early republic and the presidency and a more contemporary cyan to represent the present and future. The presidential seal was added to both sides of the fuselage near the nose, a large American flag was painted on the tail, and the sides of the aircraft read "United States of America" in all capital letters. Loewy's work won immediate praise from the president and the press. The VC-137 markings were adapted for the larger VC-25 when it entered service in 1990.

SAM 26000 was in service from 1962 to 1998, serving Presidents Kennedy to Clinton. On 22 November 1963, SAM 26000 carried President Kennedy to Dallas, Texas, where it served as the backdrop as the Kennedys greeted well-wishers at Dallas's Love Field. Later that afternoon, Kennedy was assassinated, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson assumed the office of President and took the oath of office aboard SAM 26000. At Johnson's request, the plane carried Kennedy's body back to Washington. A decade later, SAM 26000 took Johnson's body home to Texas after his state funeral in Washington.

Johnson used SAM 26000 to travel extensively domestically and to visit troops in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. SAM 26000 served President Nixon on several groundbreaking overseas voyages, including his famous visit to the People's Republic of China in February 1972 and trip to the Soviet Union later that year, both firsts for an American president. Nixon dubbed the plane the "Spirit of '76" in honor of the forthcoming bicentennial of the United States; that logo was painted on both sides of the plane's nose.

The current 747s were designed by the Reagan admin and came into service in 1990 during the Bush admin.
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SSG(P) Casualty Operations Ncoic
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I had always heard that Jackie O actually designed the color and design of the paint scheme for AF1.
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Dina Hinckley
Dina Hinckley
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Can anyone tell me what the light blue color was called?
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SFC Motor Transport Operator
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so its hard to spot from the ground ???
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LTC Public Affairs Officer
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I see other colors on there as well, other than just blue and white.
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