The "Asas de Portugal" are the official aerobatic display team of the Portuguese Air Force. The team consists of four specially colored Alpha Jets painted in white, red and green colors.
Only two of the aircraft perform at airshows with the other two being spares. In some fly-pasts, however, the team flies with a full four-ship formation, but this is not the normal practice. The team is a part of 103 Squadron located at the B.A. 11 Air Base in Beja.
The "Asas de Portugal" display team was first established in 1977, when the Air Force Chief of Staff gave an order to create an aerobatic team from 102 Squadron. The team was formed to represent the Portuguese Air Force at the Royal International Air Tattoo in the United Kingdom. The team received the "Asas de Portugal" (Wings of Portugal) name, and initially flew six Cessna T-37C trainers. The aircraft were given a red, green and white color scheme.
In 1992, following the T-37's retirement, the "Asas de Portugal" were disbanded. Up until this point, the team had performed in 146 airshows and 40 foreign demonstrations.
On June 27, 1997, the team was again reformed from 103 Squadron, this time flying with ex-Luftwaffe Alpha Jet trainers which carried no special colors. The renewed team took part during 45th year anniversary celebrations of the Portuguese Air Force in Sintra. Aviation fans then assumed that the "Asas de Portugal" would be permanently re-established, but this did not happen. After only a year, this team was again disbanded.
In 2005, the "Asas de Portugal" were once again reactivated as an official aerobatic display team of Portuguese Air Force and flying two Alpha Jet trainers painted in overall white, red and green colors.
