Military aircraft insignia
Encyclopedia
Military aircraft insignia are insignia
applied to military aircraft
to identify the nation
or branch of military service to which the aircraft belongs. Many insignia are in the form of a circular roundel
or modified roundel; other shapes such as stars, crosses, squares or triangles are also used.
Insignia are often displayed on the sides of the fuselage
, the upper and lower surfaces of the wings
, as well as on the fin
or rudder of an aircraft, although considerable variation can be found amongst different air arms, and within specific air arms over time.
. In addition, the rudders of the aircraft were painted the same colours in vertical stripes. Similar national cockades were designed and adopted for use as aircraft roundels by the air forces of other countries, including the U.S. Army Air Service
.
(RFC) abandoned their original painted Union Flag
s because they looked too much like the Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross
) used on German aircraft. The Naval Wing of the RFC used a red-rimmed white circle for a short period before both armed forces adoped a roundel resembling the French one, but with the colours reversed, (red-white-blue from centre to rim). This basic design with variations in proportions and shades has existed in one form or another to this very day.
and Russia
have had interesting "crossovers" early in the 20th century. The initial US Army Signal Corps
aviation insignia used during the Pancho Villa punitive expedition
just before World War I, used on the vertical tail and wings was a red five-pointed star similar to that of the later Soviet Union
, without a red or white outline border. A tricolor roundel, similar to that used by Imperial Russia was introduced by the US Army Air Service in February 1918 for commonality with the other allies, all of whom used such roundels, and Russia had already dropped out of the war. Contemporary with the red star, the US Navy was using an anchor symbol on the rudders of its seaplanes.
As of 19 May of 1917 all branches of the military were to use a white star with a central red dot all in a blue disk painted in the official flag colours.
In August 1919 the colours were adjusted to the current standards and the proportions were adjusted slightly so that the centre dot was reduced slightly from being 1/3 of the diameter of the blue dot, to being bound by the edges of an imaginary pentagram connecting the inner points of the star.
During the First World War and into the early post war period, US Marine Corps aircraft often had a WW1 style tricolour roundel with an anchor painted on the sides of the fuselage.
In the months after Pearl Harbor
it was realized that the red dot could be construed as being a Japanese Hinomaru from a distance or in poor visibility and in May 1942 the red dot was eliminated. On aircraft in service they were painted over with white.
During November of 1942, US forces participated in the Torch landings and for this a yellow ring (of almost random thickness) was temporarily added to the outside of the roundel to reduce incidents of Americans shooting down unfamiliar British aircraft, which could themselves be distinguished by a yellow outline on their roundels.
None of these solutions was entirely satisfactory as friendly fire incidents continued and so the US Government initiated a study and discovered that the red wasn't the issue since colour couldn't be determined from a distance anyway - but the shape could be. After trying out several variations including an oblong roundel with two stars, they arrived at using white bars flanking the sides of the existing roundel, all with a red outline, which became official in June 1943. This still wasn't entirely satisfactory and the red was replaced with blue in September of 1943. On US Navy aircraft painted in gloss midnight blue, the blue of the roundels was difficult to distinguish so the blue portion was eventually dispensed with and only the white portion of the roundel was painted on the aircraft.
In January 1947 red bars were added within the existing white bars on both USN
and USAAF aircraft and in September of the same year, the United States Army Air Forces
(USAAF) became an independent service and was renamed the United States Air Force
(USAF).
In 1955 the USN would repaint all its aircraft from midnight blue to light grey over white and would use exactly the same roundel as the USAF again.
Since then there have been some minor variations, mostly having to do with lo-visibility versions of the star and bars roundel. Air superiority F-15's eliminated the blue outline in the 1970's, and later some aircraft replaced the blue with black or a countershaded grey, or used a stencil to create an outlined version.
From 1923 onwards, a variant of the British red-white-blue roundel with the white ring omitted has been used on camouflage
d aircraft. During the Second World War, the red inner circle of roundels on aircraft based in the Asia-Pacific region was painted white or light blue, so they would not be confused with the Hinomaru markings on Japan
ese aircraft (still used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces
to this day).
After the Second World War
, the RAF roundel design was modified by Commonwealth
air forces, with the central red disc replaced with a maple leaf
(Royal Canadian Air Force
), kangaroo
(Royal Australian Air Force
), kiwi
(Royal New Zealand Air Force
), and springbok (South African Air Force
).
In recent decades, "low-visibility" insignia have increasingly been used on camouflaged
aircraft. These have subdued, low-contrast colours (often shades of grey or black) and frequently take the form of stenciled outlines. Infra-red (ie heat) seeking missiles
were found to be able to home in on the markings and so they either had to be reduced in size or contrast. Previously low visibility markings were used to increase ambiguity as to whose aircraft it was, and to avoid compromising the camouflage, all while still complying with international norms governing recognition markings.
In addition to the insignia displayed on the wings and fuselage, a fin flash may also be displayed on the fin
. A fin flash often takes the form of vertical or slanted stripes in the same colours as the main insignia. Alternatively, a national flag may be used on the fin.
Insignia
Insignia or insigne pl -nia or -nias : a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...
applied to military aircraft
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...
to identify the nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
or branch of military service to which the aircraft belongs. Many insignia are in the form of a circular roundel
Roundel
A roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...
or modified roundel; other shapes such as stars, crosses, squares or triangles are also used.
Insignia are often displayed on the sides of the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
, the upper and lower surfaces of the wings
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
, as well as on the fin
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
or rudder of an aircraft, although considerable variation can be found amongst different air arms, and within specific air arms over time.
France
The first use of national insignia on military aircraft was before the First World War by the French Aéronautique Militaire which mandated the application of roundels in 1912. The chosen design was the French national cockade, which consisted of a blue-white-red emblem mirroring the colours of the flag of FranceFlag of France
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...
. In addition, the rudders of the aircraft were painted the same colours in vertical stripes. Similar national cockades were designed and adopted for use as aircraft roundels by the air forces of other countries, including the U.S. Army Air Service
United States Army Air Service
The Air Service, United States Army was a forerunner of the United States Air Force during and after World War I. It was established as an independent but temporary wartime branch of the War Department by two executive orders of President Woodrow Wilson: on May 24, 1918, replacing the Aviation...
.
United Kingdom in the First World War
The British Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
(RFC) abandoned their original painted Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
s because they looked too much like the Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
) used on German aircraft. The Naval Wing of the RFC used a red-rimmed white circle for a short period before both armed forces adoped a roundel resembling the French one, but with the colours reversed, (red-white-blue from centre to rim). This basic design with variations in proportions and shades has existed in one form or another to this very day.
United States
The military aviation insignia of both the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
have had interesting "crossovers" early in the 20th century. The initial US Army Signal Corps
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the military aviation service of the United States Army from 1914 to 1918, and a direct ancestor of the United States Air Force. It replaced and absorbed the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, and was succeeded briefly by the Division of Military...
aviation insignia used during the Pancho Villa punitive expedition
Punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge...
just before World War I, used on the vertical tail and wings was a red five-pointed star similar to that of the later Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, without a red or white outline border. A tricolor roundel, similar to that used by Imperial Russia was introduced by the US Army Air Service in February 1918 for commonality with the other allies, all of whom used such roundels, and Russia had already dropped out of the war. Contemporary with the red star, the US Navy was using an anchor symbol on the rudders of its seaplanes.
As of 19 May of 1917 all branches of the military were to use a white star with a central red dot all in a blue disk painted in the official flag colours.
In August 1919 the colours were adjusted to the current standards and the proportions were adjusted slightly so that the centre dot was reduced slightly from being 1/3 of the diameter of the blue dot, to being bound by the edges of an imaginary pentagram connecting the inner points of the star.
During the First World War and into the early post war period, US Marine Corps aircraft often had a WW1 style tricolour roundel with an anchor painted on the sides of the fuselage.
In the months after Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
it was realized that the red dot could be construed as being a Japanese Hinomaru from a distance or in poor visibility and in May 1942 the red dot was eliminated. On aircraft in service they were painted over with white.
During November of 1942, US forces participated in the Torch landings and for this a yellow ring (of almost random thickness) was temporarily added to the outside of the roundel to reduce incidents of Americans shooting down unfamiliar British aircraft, which could themselves be distinguished by a yellow outline on their roundels.
None of these solutions was entirely satisfactory as friendly fire incidents continued and so the US Government initiated a study and discovered that the red wasn't the issue since colour couldn't be determined from a distance anyway - but the shape could be. After trying out several variations including an oblong roundel with two stars, they arrived at using white bars flanking the sides of the existing roundel, all with a red outline, which became official in June 1943. This still wasn't entirely satisfactory and the red was replaced with blue in September of 1943. On US Navy aircraft painted in gloss midnight blue, the blue of the roundels was difficult to distinguish so the blue portion was eventually dispensed with and only the white portion of the roundel was painted on the aircraft.
In January 1947 red bars were added within the existing white bars on both USN
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and USAAF aircraft and in September of the same year, the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
(USAAF) became an independent service and was renamed the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(USAF).
In 1955 the USN would repaint all its aircraft from midnight blue to light grey over white and would use exactly the same roundel as the USAF again.
Since then there have been some minor variations, mostly having to do with lo-visibility versions of the star and bars roundel. Air superiority F-15's eliminated the blue outline in the 1970's, and later some aircraft replaced the blue with black or a countershaded grey, or used a stencil to create an outlined version.
United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations
From 1923 onwards, a variant of the British red-white-blue roundel with the white ring omitted has been used on camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
d aircraft. During the Second World War, the red inner circle of roundels on aircraft based in the Asia-Pacific region was painted white or light blue, so they would not be confused with the Hinomaru markings on Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese aircraft (still used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the unified military forces of Japan that were established after the end of the post–World War II Allied occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the JSDF was confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed...
to this day).
After the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the RAF roundel design was modified by Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
air forces, with the central red disc replaced with a maple leaf
Maple leaf
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree, and is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.-Use in Canada:At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the settlements of New France had attained a population of about 18,000...
(Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
), kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
(Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
), kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
(Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
), and springbok (South African Air Force
South African Air Force
The South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. It is the world's second oldest independent air force, and its motto is Per Aspera Ad Astra...
).
Low-visibility insignia
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
aircraft. These have subdued, low-contrast colours (often shades of grey or black) and frequently take the form of stenciled outlines. Infra-red (ie heat) seeking missiles
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
were found to be able to home in on the markings and so they either had to be reduced in size or contrast. Previously low visibility markings were used to increase ambiguity as to whose aircraft it was, and to avoid compromising the camouflage, all while still complying with international norms governing recognition markings.
Fin flashes
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
. A fin flash often takes the form of vertical or slanted stripes in the same colours as the main insignia. Alternatively, a national flag may be used on the fin.