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Military aircraft insignia are insignia applied to military aircraft to identify the nation or branch of military service to which the aircraft belong. 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.

History

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. ^[1] The chosen design was the French national cockade, which consisted of a blue-white-red emblem, going outwards from the center to rim, mirroring the colours of the French flag. In addition, aircraft rudders were painted the same colours in vertical stripes, with the blue vertical stripe of the tricolors forwardmost. 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. ^[1]

Germany

Of all the early military aircraft operators, Germany was unusual in not using "round" roundels. Germany evaluated several possible markings, including a black, red, and white checkerboard; a similarly coloured roundel; and black stripes. A black "iron" cross on a square white field was chosen, as it was already in use on flags and reflected Germany's heritage as the Holy Roman Empire. The Imperial German Army's mobilization led to orders in September 1914 to paint all-black Eisernes Kreuz (iron cross) insignia with wide-flared arms over a usually square white field on the wings and tails of all aircraft flown by its air arm, then known as the Fliegertruppe des Deutschen Kaiserreiches. The fuselage was also usually marked with a cross on each side, but this was optional. The form and location of the initial cross were largely up to the painter, leading to considerable variation and even omissions of the white portion. An iron cross with direct proportions superseded the first cross in July 1916. Initially, this second cross was also painted on a white field, but in October, it was reduced to a 5 cm border surrounding the cross, even the ends of the flared arms. That same month, the Army's air arm was renamed Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte. In March 1918, a straight black cross with narrow white borders on all sides of the cross was ordered, but proportions were not set until April, resulting in many of those repainted in the field having non-standard proportions. This insignia was then replaced in May by a narrower, straight-armed cross that extended the full chord of wings, with the white border restricted to the sides of the cross's bars. In June, it ceased to be used full chord, with the bars all being the same length. The white on any of these could be omitted when used on white backgrounds and sometimes on rudders or night bombers.

Much like the French roundel, variations of the cross would be used on countries allied with Germany, including the Austro-Hungary (combined with red-white-red stripes on the wings until 1916), Bulgaria, Croatia (stylized as a leaf), Hungary (reversed colors), Romania (a blue-rimmed yellow cross with the tricolor roundel in the middle; the shape was also the stylized monogram of the monarch), and Slovakia (blue cross with a red dot in the middle).

With the dissolution of the German Army's Luftstreitkräfte in May 1920, military insignia would disappear until the rise of the Nazi Party, which imposed new rules on aircraft in 1937, starting with the use of the German red/white/black flag on the tails' starboard side of all aircraft, with the port side showing a Nazi Party flag. When the Luftwaffe's re-establishment was made official, these markings were used by military aircraft, while the 1918 Balkenkreuz crosses were reintroduced. Two standardized proportions of the crosses were introduced by July 1939, with differing widths for the quartet of white "flanks" on each insignia. When camouflage was introduced prior to the invasion of Poland, the flags were dispensed with, replacing them with a black and white swastika on both sides of the tail. During the ensuing war, the crosses would be further simplified, leaving only the borders in a contrasting colour.

After the Second World War, West Germany reverted to using a variation of the 1916 iron cross, using the white "flanks" of the Balkenkreuz following the now-curved sides of each arm, while East Germany used a diamond marking based on their flag, with the coat of arms from the flag. The reunification of Germany in 1990 resulted in the West German iron cross replacing the East German insignia for German military aircraft.

United Kingdom and British Commonwealth nations

The British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) abandoned their original painted Union Flags because, from a distance, they looked too much like the Eisernes Kreuz ( Iron Cross) used on German aircraft. The Royal Naval Air Service used either a plain red ring (with the clear-doped linen covering forming the light coloured centre), or a red-rimmed white circle on their wings for a short period — almost exactly resembling those in simultaneous use by the neutral predecessors of today's Royal Danish Air Force — before both British air arms adopted a roundel resembling the French one, but with the colours reversed, (red-white-blue from centre to rim). The two separate air arms joined to form the Royal Air Force on April 1, 1918. The British roundel design, with variations in proportions and shades, has existed in one form or another to this very day. ^{[1] [2]} The RCAF roundel was based on the RAF roundel used previously on Canadian military aircraft. From World War I onwards, a variant of the British red-white-blue roundel with the white omitted has been used on camouflaged aircraft, which between the wars meant night bombers. During the Second World War, the colours were toned down and the proportions adjusted to reduce the brightness of the roundel, with the white being reduced to a thin line or eliminated. In the Asia-Pacific region, the red inner circle of roundels was painted white or light blue to avoid confusion with Hinomaru markings on Japanese aircraft (still used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces to this day), much as the United States roundel omitted the red for the same reason.

After the Second World War, the RAF roundel design was modified by Commonwealth air forces, with the central red disc replaced with a red maple leaf ( Royal Canadian Air Force), red kangaroo ( Royal Australian Air Force), red kiwi ( Royal New Zealand Air Force), and an orange Springbok ( South African Air Force); the South African version of the RAF roundel existed until 1958.

United States

Types of Identification Marks

Identification marks

The primary identification mark of a nation's military aviation may be on the aircraft's wings, fuselage, and vertical tail. The insignia may be placed on each wing above and below, or only one insignia per wing (example: left wing above and right wing below).

Marks on the fuselage

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Fin flashes

In addition to insignia displayed on military aircraft wings and fuselages, usually in the form of roundels, a fin flash may also be displayed on the fin or rudder. A fin flash often takes the form of vertical, horizontal or slanted stripes in the same colours as the main insignia, and may be referred to as "rudder stripes" if they appear on the rudder instead of the fin, as with the French Armée de l'Air. Alternatively, a national flag or a roundel may be used.

Low-visibility insignia

In the later stages of the World War I, the British Royal Flying Corps started using roundels without conspicuous white circles on night-flying aircraft, such as the Handley Page O/400. As early as 1942-43, and again 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. 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.

The World War II German Luftwaffe often used such "low-visibility" versions of their national Balkenkreuz insignia from the mid-war period through to V-E Day, omitting the central black "core" cross and only using the "flanks" of the cross instead, in either black or white versions, which was often done (as an outline only) to the vertical fin or rudder's swastika as well.

Modern insignia

Europe

Country	Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	Date of adoption
Albania				1993 [3]
Armenia		none		????
Austria			none	1955 [4]
Azerbaijan		none		????
Belarus				1992 [5]
Belgium				1915 [6]
Bosnia and Herzegovina	none	none		????
Bulgaria				1992
Croatia				1993 [7]
Czech Republic				1993
Denmark				1912 [8]
Estonia				1918
Finland			none	1945 [9]
France				1912 [10]
France Naval Aviation			none	????
Germany				1956
Georgia				????
Greece				1917 [11]
Hungary				1991 [12]
Ireland				????
Italy			none	1917 [13]
Latvia				????
Latvia National Guard				????
Lithuania		none		1995 [14]
Malta				????
Moldova				1991 [15]
Montenegro				2018
Netherlands			none	1960 [16]
North Macedonia				1992 [17]
Norway			none	1945
Poland				1993
Portugal				1916 [18]
Romania				1985
Russia				2010
Serbia				2006 [5]
Slovakia		none		1993 [19]
Slovenia				????
Spain				1945
Sweden			none	1940 [20]
Switzerland				????
Transnistria				1992
Turkey				1972
Ukraine				????
Ukraine Naval Aviation				1992
United Kingdom				1947

Аsia

Country	Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	Date of adoption
Abkhazia				????
Afghanistan		none		????
Bangladesh				????
Bahrain				????
Brunei	none			????
Bhutan				????
Timor-Leste				????
Vietnam			none	1949
Egypt				????
Israel			none	????
India				1948
Indonesia				????
Indonesia Army Aviation				????
Indonesia Naval Aviation				????
Jordan				????
Iraq				????
Iran				????
Yemen				1990
Kazakhstan				1998
Cambodia				1994
Qatar				????
Cyprus				????
Kyrgyzstan				????
Republic of China			none	1975
People's Republic of China				1949
North Korea				1948
South Korea			none	1949
Kuwait				????
Laos				????
Lebanon				????
Malaysia				????
Maldives				????
Mongolia				????
Myanmar				????
Nepal				????
United Arab Emirates				????
Oman Combat aircraft	none	none		????
Oman Non-aircraft combat				????
Pakistan				????
Pakistan Naval Aviation				????
Saudi Arabia				????
Saudi Arabia Naval Aviation				????
Singapore			none	????
Syria				????
Tajikistan				????
Thailand				????
Thailand Naval Aviation				????
Turkmenistan				????
Turkey				1972
Uzbekistan				????
Philippines			none	????
Sri Lanka				????
Japan			none	????

Africa

Country	Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	Date of adoption
Algeria				????
Angola				????
Benin				????
Botswana				????
Burkina Faso				????
Burundi				????
Cape Verde				????
Djibouti				????
Egypt				????
Equatorial Guinea				????
Gabon				????
Gambia				????
Ghana				????
Guinea				????
Guinea-Bissau				????
Zambia				????
Zimbabwe				????
Cameroon				????
Kenya				????
Comoros				????
Republic of the Congo				????
Democratic Republic of the Congo				????
Ivory Coast				????
Lesotho				????
Liberia				????
Libya				????
Madagascar				????
Malawi				????
Mali				????
Mauritania				????
Mauritius				????
Morocco Fighter planes				????
Morocco Other aircraft				????
Morocco Naval Aviation				????
Mozambique				????
Namibia				????
Niger				????
Nigeria				????
Nigeria Naval Aviation				????
Rwanda				????
São Tomé and Príncipe				????
Seychelles				????
Eswatini				????
Senegal				????
Sierra Leone				????
Somalia				????
Republic of Somaliland				????
Sudan				????
Tanzania				????
Togo				????
Tunisia			none	????
Uganda				????
Central African Republic				????
Chad				????
Eritrea				????
Ethiopia				????
South Africa				????
South Sudan				????

North and Central America

Country	Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	Date of adoption
Antigua and Barbuda				????
Bahamas Naval Aviation				????
Barbados				????
Belize				????
Canada				????
Costa Rica				????
Cuba				1923
Dominica				????
Dominican Republic				????
El Salvador				????
Grenada				????
Guatemala				????
Honduras				????
Jamaica				????
Mexico				????
Mexico Naval Aviation				????
Nicaragua				1990 [21]
Panama				????
Saint Kitts and Nevis				????
Saint Lucia				????
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines				????
Trinidad and Tobago				????
United States				14 January 1947 [22]

South America

Country	Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	Date of adoption
Argentina				????
Argentina Naval Aviation		none		????
Bolivia				????
Brazil				1934 [23]
Brazil Naval Aviation				1918 [23]
Chile Air force				????
Chile Army Aviation				????
Colombia				1953 [24]
Colombia Naval Aviation				????
Colombia National Police				????
Guyana				????
Paraguay				????
Peru				????
Peru Naval Aviation				????
Suriname				????
Uruguay				????
Uruguay Naval Aviation				????
Venezuela				????
Venezuela Naval Aviation				????
Chile Naval Aviation				????
Ecuador				????
Ecuador Naval Aviation				????

Australia and Oceania

Country	Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	Date of adoption
Australia				????
Fiji				????
New Zealand				????
Papua New Guinea				????
Tonga Naval Aviation			none	????

Evolution of recognition signs

Europe

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	When it was used	Notes
Austria
			From 1913 to 1914 [25]	Austron-Hungarian Air Force
	none		с 1914 to 1916 [25]
			с 1916 to 1918 [25]
	none		с 1914 to 1918 [25]	Naval Aviation
			1918 [25]
none	none		с 1918 to 1922
			с 1936 to 1938
Albania
			с ???? to ????
			с ???? to ????
			с ???? to ????
Bulgaria
none	none		с 1912 to 1915
			с 1915 to 1918
			с 1937 to 1941
			с 1941 to 1944
			с 1944 to 1946
			с 1946 to 1948
			с 1948 to 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina
			с 1992 to 1998
United Kingdom Main article: Insignia British Air Force
		none	From September to October 1914	Army and Naval Aviation
		none	с октября 1914 to июнь 1915а	Naval Aviation
		none	From July 1915 to the middle of 1916	Naval Aviation
		none	с ноября 1914 to июнь 1915а	Army Aviation
			с 16 May 1914 to 23 июня 1915а	армейская и Naval Aviation
			с 23 июня 1915 to 1917	армейская и Naval Aviation
			с 1917 to 1918
	none		с 1916 to 1918	ПВО Great Britain
			с 1916 to 1918	ПВО Великобритании
			с 1916 to 1918	ПВО Великобритании
Hungary
		none	с 24 марта to апрель 1919а
			с 25 апреля to ???? 1919а
			1919
	none		с 23 авгста 1938 to 1942
			с 12 марта 1942 to 1945
			с 14 апреля 1948 to 1949
			с 15 ноября 1949 to 1951
			с 16 июня 1951 to 1990
			с 1990 to 1991
Germany Main article: Insignia Германских ВВС
	none	none	с 13 июня 1913 to 28 сентября 1914а
			с 28 сентября 1914 to 25 июля 1916а
			с 10 апреля 1918 to 15 мая 1918а
			с 15 мая 1918 to 25 июня 1918а
			с 25 июня 1918 to 11 ноября 1918а
			с 1933 to 1939
			с 1939 to 1945
			с 1959 to 1990	ВВС ГДР
Ireland
	none		с 1922 to 1940
			с 1940 to 1950
Spain
			с 1911 to 1931	Королевские ВВС Испании
			с 1931 to 1939	ВВС респбликанцев
			с 1931 to 1939	вариант
			с 1936 to 1939	ВВС националистов
			с 1939 to 1945	ВВС Испании
Italy
none	none		с 1911 to 1914
			с 1915 to 1920
			с 1920 to 1939	Нижняя toверхность крыла (нижнего крыла бипланов) целиком окрашивалась цвета госдарственного флага
			с 1940 to 1943
			с 1943 to 1945
Latvia
	none		1919
			1919
			с 1919 to 1940
			с 1919 to 1940	Naval Aviation
Lithuania
			с 1 марта 1919 to 17 ноября 1920а
			с 17 ноября 1920 to 12 апреля 1921а
	none		с 12 апреля 1921 to 1923
	none		1923 to 1928	Variant
	none		1923 to 1928	вариант
	none		1923 to 1928	вариант
	none		с 1928 to 1940
	none		с 1939 to 1940	вариант
Malta
			с ???? to ????
Netherlands
			с 1919 to 1920
			с 1920 to 1939
			с 1939 to 1940	Before 1942 Dutch East Indies
		none	с 1942 to 1949	Dutch East Indies
			с 1942 to 1960
Norway
	none		с 1914 to 1940
			с 1940 to 1945
Poland Main article: Шахматная доска (Insignia)
			с ???? to ????
			с 1918 to 1921
			с 1921 to 1993
Russia Main article: Insignia Российских ВВС
			с 1910 to 1917	Air Force of the Russian Empire
			с ???? to 1917	Cockade on planes manufactured by the Dks plant
			с ???? to 1917	Эскадра Воздшных Кораблей
			с ???? to 1917	Оtoзнавательные знаки на самолётах францзского производства для России
			с ???? to 1917	Naval Aviation
			с ???? to ????	РСФСР; toлчался резльтате нанесения красной пятиконечной звезды toверх оtoзнавательного знака ВВС России
			с ???? to ????	Закрашенные кокарды
			с ???? to ????	вариант; toлчался резльтате нанесения красной пятиконечной звезды toверх оtoзнавательного знака ВВС Великобритании
			с ???? to ????	вариант
			с ???? to ????	вариант
			с ???? to ????	вариант
			с ???? to ????	РСФСР и СССР
			с 1918 to 1943	вариант
			1920- 30-еы	Красная звезда с чёрной крглой окантовкой внтри звезды иногда исtoльзовалась 20-30-еы
			1941- 1943а	Красная звезда с чёрной окантовкой применялась межд 1941-м и 1943-мами, но toстепенно была выведена из исtoльзования
			1942- 1945а	In the early forties, many of the World Air Force began to circle their identification signs with a white border. The same thing overtook the Soviet redness of the stars. At the end of 1942, the red stars began to be almost universally circled with white paint, 1943 the star with a white edging became a standard recognition sign of the Red Army Air Force.
			С 1943 to 2010	СССР и все страны бывшего СССР до введения своих оtoзнавательных знаков, кроме Белорссии, которая и сегодня продолжает их исtoльзовать
			С 2010а
Romania
			с 1915 to 1941
			с 1941 to 1944
			с 1944 to 1947
			с 1947 to 1985
Serbia
	none		с ???? to ????	Нижняя toверхность крыла (нижнего крыла бипланов) целиком окрашивалась цвета госдарственного флага
			с ???? to ????
			с ???? to ????	На самолётах, toлченных из франции, сербские оtoзновательные знаки не наносились; на фюзеляж наносилась сербская кокарда или флаг
			с ???? to ????	Вариант
			с ???? to ????	Королевские ВВС Югославии
			с ???? to ????	ВВС и ПВО СФРЮ
			с 1992 to 2006	ВВС и ПВО СРЮ
			2006
Slovakia
			с 23 июня to сентябрь 1939а
			с 10 сентября 1939 to 1940
			с 15 октября 1940 to 1944
			с авгста to октябрь 1944а
Turkey
	none		с 1913 to 1915
	none		с 1914 to 1916	вариант
			с 1915 to 1916
			с 1916 to 1918
			с 1918 to 1945
			с 1918 to 1928	вариант
			с 1918 to 1928	вариант
			с 1945 to 1972
Ukraine
			с 1917 to 1919	Ukrainian People's Republic
			с 1917 to 1919	Ukrainian People's Republic
			с 1917 to 1919	Ukrainian People's Republic
			с 1919 to 1921
			с 1991 to 1992
Finland
			1918
		none	с 1918 to 1945 [9]
France
			с 1912 to ????
			с 1940 to 1944	Free French Air Forces
Croatia
			с 20 мая 1941 to 24 февраля 1945а [7]
			From February 24 to ???? 1945а [7]
			From 1991 to 1993 [7]
Czechoslovakia
	none		с 1918 to 1920
	none		с 1920 to 1921
Switzerland
			с ???? to ????
Sweden
	none		From August 6 1914 to September 22 1915 [20]
	none		с 22 сентября 1915 to 1917 [20]
			с 1917 to 1927 [20]
			с 1927 to 1937 [20]
		none	с 1937 to 1940 [20]

Asia

Insignia	Insignia on fuselage	Fin flash	When it was used	Notes
Azerbaijan
			с ???? to ????
Afghanistan
			с 1924 to 1929
			с 1929 to 1965
			с 1965 to 1979
			с 1979 to 1983
			с 1983 to 1985
			с ???? to ????
	none		с ???? to ????
	none		с ???? to ????
	none		с ???? to ????
	none		с ???? to ????
	none		с ???? to ????
Georgia
			с ???? to ????
India
			с 1947 to 1950
Indonesia
			с 1946 to 1954
Iraq
			с 1931 to 1963
			с 1963 to 1991
			с 1991 to 2004
none	none		с 2004 to 2008
Yemen
			с 1926 to 1962	Air Force Yemeni Mtawakkili Kingdom
			с 1962 to 1990	Air Force Yemeni Arab Republic
			с 1967 to 1990	ВВС НДР Йемен
Cambodia
			с 1955 to 1970 [26]
		none	с 1970 to 1975 [26]
			с 1975 to 1979 [26]
			с 1979 to 1989 [26]
			с 1989 to 1994 [26]
Republic of China
			с 1913 to 1920 [27]
			с 1928 to ????
South Korea
		none	с 1949 to ????
Laos
			с ???? to ????
Malaysia
			с 1957 to 1962
			с 1963 to 1982
			с ???? to ????
Mongolia
			с 1949 to 1992
Oman
			с ???? to ????
Saudi Arabia
			с ???? to 1973
Singapore
		none	с 1968 to 1973
		none	с 1973 to 1990
Thailand
	none		с ???? to ????
			с ???? to ????
Turkey
	none		с 1913 to 1915
	none		с 1914 to 1916	вариант
			с 1915 to 1916
			с 1916 to 1918
			с 1918 to 1945
			с 1918 to 1928	вариант
			с 1918 to 1928	вариант
			с 1945 to 1972
Sri Lanka
			с 1951 to 2010