That was the winged hippocamp (hippocampe aile - acute acccent over last e, can't do it here). This was the seahorse badge of AF's predecessor Air Orient. I believe an AF aircraft is currently carrying it in a retro scheme. Pity there's no sound as I well remember an Air France Super G Connie freighter taking off at LHR in 1960. It was a damp misty morning, the air around the Queen's Building filled with the heady smell of burnt kerosene. The deep drone of those big radials was truly wonderful.