The National:

IF you can cast your mind back to the summer of last year you might remember Boris Johnson ordering his prime ministerial jet be painted in the colours of the Union flag.

The £900,000 paint job caused controversy not least because of the price tag, but Downing Street insisted it was money well spent.

No longer would the Prime Minister have to fly around in a drab grey plane he labelled "boring", instead he would have all the flash and panache of a British Airways look-a-like. 

READ MORE: SNP blast Boris Johnson's £1m Union flag plane paint job

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and Johnson's personal spokesperson both claimed the plane would play a role in "promoting the UK".

How bizarre then that the Prime Minister comes on a trip to Scotland to promote the Union, and doesn't bring that plane with him.

The photo of the grand arrival doing the rounds online clearly shows Johnson stepping out of a grey plane.

Perhaps the Union Unit in Downing Street thought the flag paint job wouldn't play well with voters north of the Border?

Perhaps Johnson decided the camouflage grey offers was necessary on his Scottish visit?

So, where is that plane we all spent nearly £1m painting red, white, and blue?

As some asked, has it been taken and repainted? Has the Saltire been removed in pre-emptive preparation for Scottish independence?

Well, flight trackers show that it spent most of the day doing loops above the sea to the east of Edinburgh.

As one Twitter quipped: "It’s quite a nice metaphor that it’s going round in circles off Scotland."

The National:

The Jouker will not offer comment on the plane's call sign, TARTN39.