Colours of the Battle 1

Colours of the Battle 2

Colours of the Battle 4

Colours of the Battle 5

Colours of the Battle 6

Colours of the Battle 7

Colours of the Battle 8

Profiles of Battle I

Why World War II spy planes used pink camouflage

World War II marked a time of great innovation, which was sometimes practical and sometimes loony. Those two kinds of innovation came together when great military minds decided that to keep an airplane from being spotted, they needed to paint it pink. Find out why a pink aircraft can get lost in the sky.

The Spitfire is a much loved plane, even today. Built in the late 1930s, it has the look of a classic airplane, with an oblong, slightly rounded body, wings that look like a huge oval strapped to the plane, and a 'blister' of glass over the cockpit. Whenever someone steps out of a Spitfire they should have on leather flying gloves and an aviator's scarf blowing in the wind. That scarf, however, may be very tough to match with the plane.

The pink, slightly too washed-out to be an actual baby pink, still seems bright enough to signal every enemy within five miles. This is certainly true when the Spitfires were seen from above. They stand out brightly against the ground. To make sure they were rarely seen from above, these planes were painted to fly just under cloud cover. Although the planes were ideally meant to fly at sunset and sunrise, when the clouds took on a pinkish hue and made the plane completely invisible against them, they were also useful during the day. Clouds are pinker than we give them credit for.

One of the troubles with the Spitfire was the fact that the pilot felt garish and exposed. Having to keep an eye on the sky above to check for enemy aircraft, fly with cloud cover, and frequently fly at dawn or at sunset, these Spitfires were real challenges to their pilots. However, as early spy planes they allowed the Allies to collect much-needed data, while flying close to the ground. And of course, in the evenings, when the sky was pink with the sunset, they were far more invisible than a white plane shining against a pastel cloud.

RAF Fighter Command paint schemes 1939-1941

The colours Dark Earth and Dark Green were standard for upper surfaces until May 1942. There was little variation in the patterns other than a mirror-image application. The two types were designated 'A' and 'B' schemes.

Undersurfaces and underside national markings were subject to a number of changes:

 -In early 1940, the official scheme had a white right wing, black left wing and split fuselage colours to match. In fact, the manufacturers interpreted this as requiring an aluminum finish to the fuselage, which was an error, but it was not corrected for a long while. No underwing roundels. (Before this date various versions with and without roundels had been used) 

-On 18th May 1940 Roundels were reintroduced, but with a yellow roundel ring on the left wing. The entire fuselage and tail surfaces were now split white/black for new aircraft. Black was intended to be the specific colour 'night', though this did not always happen.

 -On 6th June 1940 the colour designated "Type S" was introduced for undersurfaces, without underwing roundels. With modern perspective (and communications methods), it is easy to be critical of the problem that neither manufacturers nor existing squadrons actually knew what "Type S" looked like! More than one written clarification was made, but the effect was to introduce a range of colours in the field from 'Duck Egg Blue' to 'Duck Egg Green' to 'Light Grey'. To compound the problem, official stocks of "Type S" paint were not available freely until over a month later than this. Each squadron/maintenance unit and each manufacturing location had to interpret what can best be described as 'imprecise' instructions. A common 'Duck Egg Bluish Green', which is indeed how one Ministry correction described the colour. (Later on, the Ministry would correct the description to be 'Sky', but by then the term 'Duck Egg Blue' was popularly established.)

 -On 1st August 1940 large (45/50") roundels reintroduced. 

-After the official end to the battle, from 27th November 1940 a black left wing was reapplied, along with a sky spinner and tailband.

As some of these changes were introduced in the middle of the Battle of Britain there was considerable field variation, as one might imagine.

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Hawker Hurricane

Unit specific emblems for Squadron Numbers 1 (wasp), 3 (spinner), 85 (hexagon), 87 (cat), 242 (booting Hitler), 303 (National), 310 (National) Squadrons. Scheme 1- night/white undersides, no under-wing roundels, full-fin flash Scheme 2- night/white undersides, under-wing roundels, half-fin flash Scheme 3- blue undersides, large fuselage roundels, no under-wing roundels, half-fin flash Scheme 4- large fuselage roundels, no under-wing roundels, full-fin flash Scheme 5- no under-wing roundels, half-fin flash Scheme 6- small under-wing roundels, full-fin flash Scheme 7- standard underling roundels, small fin flash Scheme 8- night/sky undersides, under-wing roundels, sky-blue tail band/spinner

Supermarine Spitfire

Unit specific emblems for Squadron Numbers 54 (kiwi), 65 (East India), 66 (spinner), 234 (mailed fist). Scheme 1- blue undersides, no under-wing roundels Scheme 2- no under-wing roundels (standard early battle scheme) Scheme 3- oversized fuselage roundels, blue undersides, no under-wing roundels Scheme 4- underside roundels (standard late battle scheme) Scheme 5- wingtip underside roundels

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Camouflage and the Ministry of Defence

Aircraft Colors II Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1/B

Aircraft Colors III Messerschmitt Bf 110 C

Aircraft Colors IV Dornier Do 17 Z

Aircraft Colors V Heinkel He 111 H-1

Luftwaffe Insignia of the Battle of Britain

Luftwaffe Markings II

Markings were used so that aircraft could be identified. Just like camouflage, the subject of Luftwaffe airplane markings is complex and rather confusing. When one observes markings used on German aircraft, one is immediately struck by the number of variations from 1935 to 1945. This section merely gives a general outline of markings intended to be applied.

National markings

From 1933 to 1935, Germany did not officially possess an air force, but the nazification of the civilian airfleet was evident by a replica of the Nazi flag painted on both sides of aircraft fins. This consisted of a bright red band with a white circle in which there was a black Hakenkreuz (swastika), very often standing on one point to emphasize an impression of dynamism and movement. In early 1936, a series of changes came into force. These included the application of the Balkenkreuz (national cross), a Greek cross with four arms of equal length. This was black with white outline similar to that used on German tanks. The Balkenkreuz was placed on both sides of an aircraft's fuselage at midpoint between the wing and tail units. It was also painted on the wings, both on upper and undersurface. This emphasized the importance of identifying friend and foe in a campaign where close cooperation between ground-attack aircraft and dive bombers and the assaulting armored forces was a fundamental feature of the Blitzkrieg.

The aircraft of the German Legion Condor that took part in the Spanish Civil War were repainted, as Germany was not officially at war against the Spanish Republic. Instead of Balkenkreuz and Hakenkreuz, they carried a white Andrea's cross in a black circle on both sides of the fuselage, while fins and rudders had a black Andrea's cross on a white background. The conspicuous red/white/black swastika painted on fins and rudders was discarded and replaced in late 1938 by a simple black swastika, often with a thin white outline. In the case of ambulance airplanes, the black and white Balkenkreuz was replaced by a red cross on a circular white background. Later in the war, there were several variations on the Balkenkreuz theme. For camouflage purposes, the cross was often merely outlined in white or black with the center left in the basic color.

Tactical markings

Tactical markings enabled a unit commander to quickly call up one of his aircraft by radio and pick it out more easily above the battlefield. Before the official creation of the Luftwaffe in 1935, German airplanes had no tactical markings but a civilian registration, generally a letter D for Deutschand (Germany) and a sequence of three of four letters. After 1935 identification marks were introduced, consisting of a combination of three letters and an Arabic numeral applied on the fuselage, in conjunction with the Balkenkreuz, the cross dividing the four symbols. These codes were painted in such as way that they would be readable if the aircraft was passing over the observer from front to back. These markings represented the plane's Geschwader, Gruppe and Staffel. The expansion of the German air force in the years preceding the war required some administrative changes, particularly when the Luftflotten (air fleets) were created in 1939. Single-engine fighter units had their own marking system, showing unit and tactical seniority. These used chevrons to indicate the rank of the pilot; bars, points or cross to indicate the Gruppe; a numeral showing the Geschwader to which the Gruppe belonged; and sometimes a horizontal black line ran entirely around the fuselage indicating a staff pilot. A Geschwader commander, for example, was indicated by two chevrons and a vertical bar; a Gruppe commander by two chevrons; a Gruppe technical officer by a chevron and a small circle. Colors were also applied to indicate the Geschwader; they were also designated by their abbreviation followed by an Arabic numeral: e. g. KG 77, NJG 26, ZG 110. Staffeln in the Geschwader were numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals; the first, second, and third Staffeln constituted Gruppe I; the fourth, fifth and sixth Staffeln, Gruppe II; and the seventh, eighth and ninth Staffeln, Gruppe III. Where a fourth or fifth Gruppe existed, the Staffeln were numbered 10, 11, and 13 or 13, 14 and 15 respectively. In unit designations, the Gruppe numeral was omitted whenever the Staffel number was displayed. Thus the fourth Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 77 was known as 4/KG 77 and no other reference to its position in Gruppe II of KG 77 was necessary. Gruppen attached to a Geschwader were numbered in Roman numerals; thus I/KG 77 and II/KG 77 were the first and second Gruppen of the medium-range bomber Geschwader 77.

Training aircraft were indicated by letter S for Schule (school), a numeral indicating Luftkreis, a letter identifying the school, and the aircraft's registration numeral within the school. There were, however, many exceptions to the rules, and systems were partially changed, becoming complicated. As World War II progressed, the application of the rules became somewhat more lax, and interpretation at the unit level varied widely from front to front and year to year, resulting in a complex and confusing "system" without uniformity, markings being omitted, some obscure or rarely seen, others added or placed in unofficial positions. Geschwader designations could then consist of three digits, and a system of colors was introduced to indicate Staffeln and Gruppen. There were many variations on the theme, some being in solid or outlined form, or red, yellow, white or black according to the plane background color. In 1941, colored tail bands were added according to theater of operation, and often wingtips and cowling were painted in the same color. In mid-1944, a more complicated system of colored tail bands was introduced for fighter units in the defense of the Reich, adding to the confusing situation already existing. At unit level, however, the tendency was toward smaller and less conspicuous application of the tactical numbers, and in many cases they were simply omitted.

Next to each of the airplane's filler points, there was a small yellow triangle pointing upward, bearing indications referring to the octane rating of the fuel. Luftwaffe vehicles were marked with an identification plate bearing the prefix WL (Wehrmacht Luftwaffe).

Unit and individual emblems

Individual pilots and those belonging to an established unit had "honor titles," crests and emblems. This practice, started by prominent flyers and units of World War I, such as the famous "Red Baron," Manfred von Richthofen, was revived in the Luftwaffe, and awarded, for example, to fighter JG 132. The fighter Geschwader JG 26 was titled Leo Schlageter, after a Nazi activist, an early "martyr" of the cause shot down by the French in 1923. Another example is JG 134, which was named Horst Wessel after the Nazi Party's gutter poet, and distinguished by its brown, the color of the early Nazi and Sturm Abteilung (SA, Storm Trooper) uniforms.

Insignia were of great variety. Directly inspired by classical heraldry, they represented the arms of the city or cities with which the pilot or units were associated, or were individual devices with geometrical forms including colored triangles and diamonds. Pseudoheraldic signs such as birds (eagle, owl and raven), and other animals (shark, lion, cat, horse, fox, unicorn, even Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse) were frequently used. Some crests were obviously directed at a particular target. Example of this type were the cliffs of Dover, an axe cleaving John Bull's hat, or a dog performing on a puddle-shaped map of England. Numerous other examples were observed, using various aggressive combinations and martial themes, for example, lightning, a falling bomb, a flying devil, and Death with its scythe. The shark's mouth insignia with menacing teeth was also used; it displayed unit heraldry, suggesting personal flamboyance and enhancement of aggressive spirit. It was painted, for example, on Messerschmitt Bf 109C of 2/JG 71, Junkers Ju 87 B-1 Stuka of 2/StG 77, Messerschmitt Bf 110 C of II/ZG 76 (Haifisch Gruppe) and even on Gotha Go 242 gliders. Individual, personal or unit good-luck symbols were sometimes used. Crests, insignia and emblems were usually placed on both sides of the cowling near the cockpit or on the aircraft's nose. The kill tally was proudly exhibited in the form of small stars or bars, generally painted on the aircraft rudder. Art and decoration painted on aircraft in the form of pin-ups, fictional or cartoon heroes, lucky or aggressive symbols, animals, and patriotic motifs were often disapproved or frowned upon by military authorities, but they were often tolerated as they benefited morale, expressed individual pride, offered relief from uniform military anonymity, comforted by recalling home, and were believed to work as fetishes against enemy action.

Luftwaffe Insignia of the Battle of Britain