Three theories of the liftoff of a turbulent jet flame were assessed using cinema-particle imaging velocimetry movies recorded at 8000 images/s. The images visualize the time histories of the eddies, the flame motion, the turbulence intensity, and streamline divergence. The first theory assumes that the flame base has a propagation speed that is controlled by the turbulence intensity. Results conflict with this idea; measured propagation speeds remains close to the laminar burning velocity and are not correlated with the turbulence levels. Even when the turbulence intensity increases by a factor of 3, there is no increase in the propagation speed. The second theory assumes that large eddies stabilize the flame; results also conflict with this idea since there is no significant correlation between propagation speed and the passage of large eddies. The data do support the "edge flame" concept. Even though the turbulence level and the mean velocity in the undisturbed jet are large (at jet Reynolds numbers of 4300 and 8500), the edge flame creates its own local low-velocity, low-turbulence-level region due to streamline divergence caused by heat release. The edge flame has two propagation velocities. The actual velocity of the flame base with respect to the disturbed local flow is found to be nearly equal to the laminar burning velocity; however, the effective propagation velocity of the entire edge flame with respect to the upstream (undisturbed) flow exceeds the laminar burning velocity. A simple model is proposed which simulates the divergence of the streamlines by considering the potential flow over a source. It predicts the well-established empirical formula for liftoff height, and it agrees with experiment in that the controlling factor is streamline divergence, and not turbulence intensity or large eddy passage. The results apply only to jet flames for Re < 8500; for other geometries the role of turbulence could be larger. (C) 2004 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.