Designer of patches for Rafale fighter jets pilots wanted to be IAF pilot, says motivated by his heroes

New Delhi: The man who designed patches for pilots, who will fly the Rafale fighter jets, wanted to be an Indian Air force (IAF) pilot but could not because of medical reasons. Today, the patches designed by him, mostly worn on the flying overalls, make him proud as they are worn by his "heroes".

Speaking on this, Saurav Chordia said, "I always wanted to join airforce but could not due to medical reason. But I do this as a hobby and was passionate about the airforce. It gives me immense pleasure when I see them being worn by the heroes and motivates me to do more. Patches play a significant role in infusing morale. They may look simple but they contain things like aircraft type and some time unit name and motto."

Most of these patches are approved in the unit level. Explaining the design of the patch, he said, "Golden Arrows patch has got the motto written on the outer ring of the patch which means “Arise Ever”."

"Arise Ever" is written in Sanskrit. The patch was visible on the flying overalls worn by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in 2019 during his sortie and the Indian pilots who left France on Monday on the five Rafales which are coming to India.