.....roo and emu on the wings were ON THE WRONG SIDE! So why all the fuss now?
Use of the Australian coat of arms is by government decree. Qantas uses what is known as a 'stylised coat of arms'. IE it takes its heritage from the Aussie coat of arms but it isn't the same. You'll note too the Aussie coat of arms has within the shield the coat of arms of each state. The Qantas coat of arms has the southern cross. The Aussie coat of arms is topped by the Federation star. The Qantas coat of arms is topped by the rising sun.
The point is, many Qantas pilots like it for what it represents. I couldn't give a stuff that it's not the same of the Aussie coat of arms or that the Roo and Emu are reversed from the Aussie coat of arms. It's A coat of arms that has proudly adorned both my wings and my cap badge for the last 21 years. Before that it adorned my QFTS wings. It's been a part of me for more than half my life and I don't like it being thrown on the scrap heap in the name of 'fashion'.
I've never complained about it because I understood it's meaning and history as did most crew I ever discussed the meaning with. It's interesting though dr dre (funnily enough the iPad initially auto corrected that to 'der' which caused me to giggle) that I've seen your line of argument a few times now. In general it comes from people who place little value on symbology. That's cool. That's your prerogative. However given that you don't care, why don't you just leave the issue alone and let those of us who do care make an effort to keep the old wings and cap badge? I mean you're not fussed so why try and defend the new wings? Unless you prefer the new wings? You reckon they more effectively represent who we are and what we do?
Personally I could've lived with a change from the big Q in the wings to a roo but the proposed wings look almost identical to the F/A wings. If they'd let him go to silver like he originally wanted they would be virtually indistinguishable from up close as well instead of just being indistinguishable from the current F/A wing from more than 10' away.
Until you can tell me what was wrong with them, I'll keep asking why the wings were changed. Why is the stylised coat of arms superfluous? If you are keen to be respectful of our past why do we have a cloth wing on a shirt?