The question has arisen of which forms of Connochaetes possess a facial flag. Here I focus on the facial profile and neck (excluding gnou), looking for fairly large-scale dark/pale contrasts.
In mearnsi, there is no case for a facial flag.
mearnsi https://focusedcollection.com/196865162/stock-photo-close-white-bearded-wildebeest-connochaetes.html and https://www.dreamstime.com/portrait-wildebeest-gnu-serengeti-tanzania-head-closeup-savannah-image132843450 and third photo in http://cannundrum.blogspot.com/2014/08/western-white-bearded-wildebeest.html
In albojubatus, the case for a facial flag is based on the crisply-defined dark on the front of the face relative to the pale on the cheeks and beard.
albojubatus https://www.kimballstock.com/popuppreview.asp?db=a&image=AFW+03+MH0029+01&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=3 and https://www.at-s.com/event/article/animal/436824.html and https://videohive.net/item/white-bearded-wildebeest/19821847 and https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-close-up-antelope-gnu-eating-image49675966 and https://www.gettyimages.dk/detail/news-photo/close-up-of-a-wildebeest-in-amboseli-national-park-kenya-news-photo/619464660 and https://www.grida.no/resources/2438 and https://zfc.jp/en/video/C7jnLFmDl8w
In taurinus eastern form, there is no case for a facial flag.
taurinus eastern form https://www.dreamstime.com/close-up-photo-blue-wildebeest-bull-head-also-known-as-brindled-gnu-close-up-photo-blue-wildebeest-bull-image223153468 and https://www.dreamstime.com/blue-wildebeest-evening-golden-light-kruger-national-park-south-africa-head-shot-blue-wildebeest-evening-golden-light-kruger-image113267068 and https://www.dreamstime.com/blue-wildebeest-connochaetes-taurinus-also-called-common-wildebeest-blue-wildebeest-connochaetes-taurinus-also-called-image148530031 and https://www.dreamstime.com/blue-wildebeest-connochaetes-taurinus-also-called-common-white-bearded-brindled-gnu-portrait-evening-light-image186002411
In taurinus western form, there is no case for a facial flag.
taurinus western form https://www.dreamstime.com/blue-wildebeest-side-view-africa-nationalpark-blue-wildebeest-connochaetes-taurinus-male-standing-grassland-side-view-image171896167 and https://www.dreamstime.com/blue-wildebeest-side-view-africa-nationalpark-blue-wildebeest-connochaetes-taurinus-male-standing-grassland-side-view-image171896171 and http://shutterstock.puzzlepix.hu/kep/1562477650
In cooksoni, the case for a facial flag is ambivalent. The cheeks are pale but the dark on the beard and front of the face is not particularly crisply-defined.
cooksoni https://www.alamy.com/cooksons-wildebeest-a-subspecies-of-the-blue-wildebeest-native-to-the-south-luangwa-national-park-zambia-image332014206.html and https://eol.org/pages/4447139/media?resource_id=650 and https://photos.willbl.com/cooksons-wildebeest-2/ and second photo in https://www.wildandwonderful.org/wildebeest and https://www.jczinn.com/South%20Africa/Zambia%202017/South%20Luangwa/Tena%20Tena/slides/cooksons_wildebeest_JZ5_3291a.html
In johnstoni, some adult male individuals have a bold white bar across the rostrum. However, this seems insufficient to outweigh the fact that the dark front of the face is particularly narrow in this form.
johnstoni https://www.pbase.com/robbiehildred/image/159296779 and https://taxidermytrophiesforsale.com/product/wildebeest-nyasa-wildebeest-128/ and https://www.africahunting.com/media/hunting-nyasa-wildebeest-selous-tanzania.42599/
In summary, a facial flag is clear only in one form of wildebeest. This is albojubatus (see https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/close-wildebeest-grazing-on-green-grass-1484131772 and https://www.123rf.com/photo_70436552_big-wildebeest-migration-in-african-safari-amboseli-national-park-in-kenia.html and https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/couple-grazing-blue-wildebeests-1929907964), which is as pale as any form of wildebeest while retaining a wide and maximally dark front of the face.
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Although taurinus western form lacks a facial flag, certain individuals, seen in certain lights, give a hint of a facial flag: https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/blue-wildebeest-walking-dry-grass-morning-1832858380.
The following of adult male albojubatus shows that in some individuals there can be pale brindling on the posterior part of the cheek even in this form of wildebeest: https://coolwallpapers.me/5431027-wildebeest-background.html.
According to Smithers and Tello (1976), one in every 50 individuals of Connochaete taurinus taurinus in Zinave National Park in southern Mozambique has the white bar on the rostrum.
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