Decode Your Model Plane!

Transcript*

Intro

Hello all, this is David from Sunward Hobbies. So, you put decals onto your aircraft. Haven’t you ever wondered why some aircraft have dart boards on them while others have those pirate treasure X marks?

In today’s video, I’m going to explain to you all about aircraft identification insignias. Let’s go all the way over here. In this video, I will explain the history of military aircraft identification as well as the insignias used by all the major air forces over the past century. I won’t cover every single country because if I did that, I’d be here past closing time. And despite what you might think, I do have a life.

Outbreak of WW1 – Identification Started

With the invention of powered flight by the Wright brothers in 1903, militaries in Europe started to grow fond of the idea of using these peaceful inventions as harbingers of death. At the outbreak of World War I, nations such as Britain, France, Germany, all had small forces of scout aircraft used mainly for reconnaissance, which is great until they started getting shot at by both enemies and allies. So it became evident that some form of identification was needed to make it clear who was on which side.

France

The first to do this was the French army Delair and they did this two years before the war even began. They decided to slap on their national cockade, which is a blue dot surrounded by a white circle enveloped by a red ring. Other than slight changes in colour hue and the addition of a thin yellow ring in the cold war, this roundel has remained unchanged ever since its inception.

Germany

Now, when Germany realized that they needed an insignia for their Imperial German air service, ideas for black, red, and white checker boards and roundels were considered. But then they went with something different. They went with a black curved cross over a white field known as the Tatzenkreuz. This was already a national symbol for Germany as it referenced the Holy Roman Empire for which it traces its origins back to as well as referencing the Iron Cross Medal awarded for bravery.

Unlike France, however, Germany was not above restyling their insignia. In 1916, a straight armed version of the cross was introduced, although it did not become standard on all aircraft until April 1918. That lasted about a month. Then they tweaked it by changing the bold white border into a thin one that only encompasses the flanks of the cross. I guess because they lost the Red Baron so soon after the previous cross, they considered it a bad omen and they decided they had to change it immediately.

This remained until the end of the war and was then brought back in 1935 for the Luftwaffe with a thicker black cross and a variety of white outlines from thin to thick to low visibility. There was also another symbol that they started using on their aircraft’s tails that year. I’m not going to show it here. So, let’s just replace it with this. Then after World War II, knowing they could no longer use that same cross design, they combined their past designs into this revamped Balkenkreuz which they use today.

Britain

Let’s head back to World War I for the Brits. The Royal Flying Corps just simply used their Union Jack flag as their insignia in 1914 until it was realized that the St. George’s cross could be mistaken for the German cross at a distance. So, they just decided to copy the French and invert the colours now with a red dot and a blue ring. Let’s call this the Type A roundel. Britain stuck with this until 1937 when they started to add a yellow ring around it.

This was because around this time they started moving towards camouflage for their colour schemes and it was felt that the yellow rain would improve visibility. Quickly circling back to World War I, there was a night variation of the roundel introduced in 1918 called the Type B, which essentially just removed the white ring. This was then repurposed in 1939 to be used on the upper wing surface of all aircraft until 1945. Starting in July 1942, the RAF changed their round to the Type C, which enlarged the red dot and shrunk the white and yellow rings for lower visibility.

How Other Countries Followed

Many countries such as Italy, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, India, Spain, Denmark, and Canada have all borrowed the Roundel design as their insignia with colour variations as well as personal modifications that make them uniquely theirs. I could end things here, but I feel the video just wouldn’t be complete without discussing one of the more unique Roundel designs, the United States.

United States

So, the US has gone through quite a few designs. Their very first one in March 1916 was, ironically, the Red Star, which would go on to be used by the Soviet Union ever since the Russian Civil War. In May 1917, just a month after entering World War I, they adopted this unique design of a white star with a red centre dot over a blue circle. Then for some reason in February 1918 they changed to this less original round which just borrows both the British and French design.

And then in August 1918 they realized how good their previous design was and they returned to it for over 20 years. But then Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 and suddenly that red dot was no good. So they removed it in May 1942. And then for less than a year they added this yellow rain around it much akin to the RAF. Now here’s where it looks more familiar. In June 1943, to improve identification, they added a white bar to each side of the round with a red outline.

Though the US Navy refused this particular design and instead went with no outline. And then just two months later, the red outline was changed to blue, which would be used by the army and navy through the rest of the war. and into 1947. And finally, in January of that year, to eventually coincide with the formation of the USAF later that year, a thin red line was added to the white bars, finally completing that iconic emblem, which has lasted to this day.

Low Visibility

I’m not bothering addressing low visibility insignias. They’re just the same logos painted with greyscale, which if you ask me, defeats the whole purpose of aircraft identification in the first place.

Seriously, if you take both France and Britain and paint their roundels in grey, how can you tell them apart? I need to end this before I start ranting again.

Outro

In conclusion, simply put, that is why military aircraft have those insignias. So, I hope this video educated those of you who did not know that and entertained those who did. And while you’re here, feel free to check out our website, sunwardhobies.ca, or drop in the store and browse through our selection of properly identified aircraft. Thank you very much for watching this video. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials, and until the next one, adios.

About the Author:

David Peckam has built scale models since he was 12, specializing largely on military aircraft. He is a makeup artist and background actor for films and TV. He enjoys watching hockey and of course, movies. He has an excellent knowledge of hobby products and if you have questions concerning scale model airplanes.

*Video by David Peckham
Video Edited by Daniela Castellano
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano