Where did the name Concorde come from?
In January 1963, the suggestion that the aircraft should be called “Concorde” emerged from an informal family chat in the home of a BAC executive. It was arrived at by the simple process of thumbing through Roget’s Thesaurus. At this family discussion, the first reaction to the suggestion of “Concorde” was the question: “With the ‘e,’ of course?” To which the answer was: “Yes.” When the suggestion was put forward officially, the British side approved it tentatively and then submitted it to the French. There were some preliminary murmurs of approval but the subject was regarded as a matter for decision by “higher authority.” It is ironic that the first indication that the name had been officially adopted in France came in the famous speech by General de Gaulle in which he dashed Britain’s hopes of joining the Common Market. In it, the French President mentioned “the Concorde supersonic airliner” and said there was no reason why this kind of scientific and industrial collaboration betwee
