Why was Concorde called Concorde? Discover the name's French meaning, its Anglo-French origin and why Britain restored the final e.
Concorde was called Concorde because the French word concorde means “agreement”, “harmony” or “union”. The name captured the Anglo-French partnership that designed and built the supersonic airliner under a 1962 treaty. Britain briefly preferred the English spelling “Concord”, but the final official name retained the French “e”.
In Aviation & Real-World Flying history, Concorde’s name was a political statement as much as an aircraft designation. It identified a shared national programme rather than a model named by British Airways or Air France.
What does the word Concorde mean?
The French noun concorde and the English word concord have the same essential meaning: agreement between people or groups. That made the name especially appropriate for an aircraft created by two countries combining their separate supersonic transport projects.
Britain and France signed the development treaty on 29 November 1962, committing both governments to the project. Design, manufacturing and propulsion responsibilities were divided across the two countries, as covered in our account of Concorde’s Anglo-French development and service history.
Who chose the name Concorde?
No airline independently named the aircraft. The name emerged at government-programme level, with French President Charles de Gaulle publicly using “Concorde” in 1963. British authorities subsequently used the English spelling “Concord” for part of the development period.
The disagreement reflected the strained politics between the countries at the time, not a technical difference between British and French aircraft. Concorde remained one joint design, with prototypes and production work undertaken on both sides of the Channel.
Why does Concorde have an e at the end?
The final e is present primarily because Concorde is the French spelling. At the French prototype’s rollout in Toulouse in December 1967, British technology minister Tony Benn announced that Britain would also adopt “Concorde”, giving the aircraft one common name.
Benn said the added e could represent “Excellence, England, Europe and Entente Cordiale”. That was a diplomatic explanation intended to answer British objections; it was not the original source of the aircraft’s name and should not be treated as a formal acronym.
Why did the name suit the aircraft so well?
Concorde embodied cooperation in a unusually literal way: British and French organisations shared the design, manufacturing and engine programme, while final aircraft were assembled at Filton and Toulouse. The name therefore described how the aircraft came into existence, not its speed, shape or sound.
The result was a single supersonic airliner rather than separate national designs. Our explanation of how Concorde’s joint design worked covers the aerodynamic and propulsion engineering behind that partnership.