6:55 This is based on the „Preußische Farbfolge“ (Prussian Color Sequence) for the marking of units. It goes: I. = white, II. = red, III. = yellow, IV. = blue, V. = green, VI. = black (sometimes brown). It was introduced in 1818 and remained in effect until 1918, but was used casually after 1918 in the German army. Even during my time in the Bundeswehr equipment of the platoons was marked with colors according to the Prussian Color Sequence. Maybe that was, because white, red and yellow paint was readily available because these colors were coincidentally used for other tasks within the Bundeswehr.

Gotta commend you on the perfect pronunciation of Jagdgeschwader. Was a pleasant surprise to hear from an English speaker and definitely the best I have ever heard! Keep up the great work

This is helpful for someone who hasn’t modeled much German aircraft, like me!

The way you present info is pretty clear and really easy to follow

I've been fixing these aircraft models since I was 12. It has always irked me as to what all those numbers and chevrons mean. I think this is the first and only video delving into a difficult and obscure (but interesting to modellers) subject such as this.

Thank you for this video. When I was growing up in the late 1960's and into 1970's, I used to build models like crazy and laterI would buy books for which types of models to build. And I read every book that was released on the Luftwaffe and it's markings However I am now 66 and I'm going to begin building models again. Just as an aside, I bought a BF-109 F2. I wanted the Trop model, but it was out of my price range. I figure that somewhere out there, there is an aftermarket site out there that has the parts I need. Please keep putting out these videos. And since I am now a geezer, I have forgotten a good part of what I once knew. Horrido!

Eastern und Scandinavian theatre had yellow fuselage bands. Not white ones. Chevrons etc. were later replaced by green numbers (Stabsstaffel). There were also brown used for third Staffeln und blue for fourth Staffeln.

Outstanding video! I had a vague idea of what these markings meant but this explained alot. The Germans always had super organization and symbology for all of their military units. WW2 German Aircraft have always been my favorite to model.

Well researched and clearly explained. Those Germans sure had a complicated way of marking the aircraft.

Again my friend, Outstanding video!!!! It's good to know what these insignias all mean on these aircraft. You don't happen to have any information like this for armor vehicles? I'm just asking. You the man brother. Thank you so much for sharing. Kudos to you.

This is an awesome video. It gives information that I have never seen anywhere else. Kudos to you for your selection of topic and the research you did to present it.

German markings are extremely organized and show strandings and class. Great job, I always wondered about those markings.😎

👍👍OUTSTANDING! Rarely have I come across a vid on ANY topic which is so clear and concise. 👍👍👍

Thank you for your description and explanations ! Very interesting !

Thank you for explaining these WW 2 German aircraft markings. I've built plenty of models of these planes before and never knew what all those markings were for. It makes me wonder who ever came up with the idea behind them.

Being a scale model builder, your info is priceless, and was presented well.

Hello Sir! Thank you for this very informative video. I have been wondering a long time how to read these markings. Thank you for solving this "mystery"!

Great video and super informative! Reading a book now about Luftwaffe operations in North Africa and this has gone a long way towards increasing my understanding!

THANK YOU for posting this video. Learned quite a bit about the markings. So glad I found and subscribed to your channel!

Very interesting and I learned something. Now, I think(?) I can interpret the various insignia as shown in the book "Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft In Profile" by Sundin and Bergstrom (1997) which gives a brief history of the pilots and color illustratrations of the fighter aircraft they flew. Great video and thanks for the historical information.

I knew nothing about this subject until now. Very interesting and informative, subscribed, regards Lexi

Wow! That was cool! I always wondered what all the marking are on all the WW2 aircraft and this is the FIRST video that provided instruction! I hope you do more of these. Thank you!!

A whole series or videos on this topic would be epic.

Being a BF109 / luft nerd, I’m extremely pleased to see this video. Great stuff Hank!.

Absolutely great video. Fascinating stuff.

That was amazing, thanks for this. Never put much thought into this before.

I am saving this - that is an excellent description of markings!

I think it would be harder to remember the symbols than flying the plane. Thank you for explaining 😅

Thanks for this, as I’ve wondered for years what the fuselage markings on Luftwaffe meant.

Awesome! I had no idea that there was so much organization behind the symbols, it's truly amazing!

That's just the default scheme now. It only got complicated when some groups were upgraded to four squadrons or the groups were spread over several theaters of war. Or generally groups and squadrons were re-formed. Some pilots kept their old markings when transferred or promoted. Pilots from the squadron staff also flew with anonymous machines, since the allies also knew the marking scheme and therefore did not want to give a special target or officially banned from flying. The bands on the fuselage of the machines were recognition marks for all machines and countries that flew on the German side. So if you see an Italian Macchi MC.202 with yellow stripes, you can find out the time and place of the recording relatively accurately. As fewer and fewer countries fought on the German side from mid-1944, these bands lost their original meaning and they were then used as squadron identification.

Just what I was looking for. Thank you very much.

Awesome man. Great information!!

Thanks, was super informative! 👍

Thank you for this vid, it explains so much of what confused me over the years regarding Luftwaffe staffel and unit markings, I just hope it doesnt cause early onset of OCDC lol.

It is challenging to denote white or yellow markings in black and white photos unless accompanied with captions. Google Luftwaffe WW2 markings. War birdsrescourcegroup has an extensive page covering unit markings through the course of the war.

A very instructive video, now I can correctly identify the German planes. ​

That was very informative.

I find it interesting that the planes had signifiers indicating the rank of the person flying the plane. It seems like that would needlessly expose the higher ranked officer to enemy fire.

Good video. Clear explanation of a complicated subject. Keep posting more videos like this one.

Super informative

Your German is on point. We have a somewhat famous ace pilot in our family. It's very interesting.

Great info, thanks.

Just found your channel (and subscribed) huge WW2 fighter plane fan and model builder (or collector, I'm not sure!) This is a very, very interesting topic and quite confusing!

Great video!

Good stuff thank you for sharing 👍

What sources did you used for your research? Been looking for a book about the Luftwaffe structure, tactics etc. Great job!!

Very informative..very good presentation.

Good video, thanks! Won't remember any of it, so thank God I can save it for later!

that's great mate. well done

Outstanding

I need a model when I was a kid of a 109 and I option for those decals brings back memories

Man, I had no idea what any of that meant, would probably still fail a post video quiz. Nice job.

Excellent , always wonder the meaning of this symbols, ...more than 40 years in scale modeling aircraft , ( near 50 german aircrafts ) and never find this superb detailed information, great job ...¡¡¡¡¡

An easy toi read primer on Luftwaffe markings of WW2 and the years leading up to it can be found in Volumes 16 to 18 of Wings of Fame. These markings were the 3rd or 4th system for aircraft markings adopted by fighter units. Initially, just after WW1 they used Luftfahrzeugrolle B which consisted of the letter D followed by a serial number with various dividers between the D and the numbers including dots and hyphens. This system lasted to around 1934 when an all letter code was introduced, similar to what we see on today's civil aircraft, with the first letter identifying the all up weight of the aircraft. 2 years later we have an alphanumeric system with the first 2 characters identifying the unit, for example JG132 (by WW2 this had become JG2) having 21 as the first 2 characters. The unit designation indicates a lot as well. JG indicates a fighter unit, 1 indicates that it is the most senior unit of its type in the region it is based in, 3 superfluously indicates it is a fighter unit and the 2 indicates it is from Luftreiskommando II (ie the Berlin-Bradenburg region). No sooner had this system come into place for all military aircraft that it was changed for the fighter squadrons to the markings familiar in WW2 but with colourful noses, JG132, for example had red noses. But hardly had the paint dried was the Bf.109 introduced into service and the painted noses became history and the colours being transferred to the aircraft identification number in white, red, or yellow depending on which staffed the aircraft was in. These numbers were originally only half the height of the cross but later became the same height. Care must also be taken as there were many anomalies in the German system of markings. For example the is a photograph of an FW.190 of I/JG51 that has 3 vertical bars in front of the fuselage cross for which no one now knows the reason. This unit also put the theatre banding behind the fuselage cross. The German bomber markings are also complicated.

I see the thumbnail, and already know the answer: the arrow symbolizes that the plane flies in that direction: it goes forwards instead of backwards.

Thank you. SO very interesting

Sehr gut erklärt 👍

Very informative. Just Subscribed

At the 09:30 mark where the Center picture was stated to be Garlands 109, it’s hard to make out but it looks like it may have the Mickey Mouse on the side below the canopy that he always added to what ever aircraft he was assigned too.

Very Helpful :)

And if you spend waaay too long looking at this stuff you can often tell what JG later war aircraft belong to by the font they used.

Good breakdown

Very informative

JG 27's Berlin Bear group had an actual bear as its mascot. Adam Makos's book _A Higher Call_ was one I read.

fabulous content!!!! or USN during midway and corral seas ops. The tail code striping always puzzled me.(which is easy to do lol). I've seen two red stripes on a dauntless which i believe is a marine commander aircraft. not sure why the navy and marine's switch back and forth from white striping's to red. inner rivalries between USN and USMC maybe. both operated units from carriers in the pacific. Again thank you so much.

I tend to stick with any numbered "13", much like the Fw 190D from JV44 "Red 13", Heinz Bär and his Fw 190A, also "Red 13", then you have Günther Rall and his Bf 109G-2 "Black 13".... Helmut Tiedmann's Bf 109E-4 "Black 13" was a colourful machine....😎

Very nice video! Is there a chance that you can make one about german plane/vehicle camos? That would be lit af.

Very interesting

My grandpa was a member of the 3rd SS Luftflotte Division "Gottlieb Wendehals". He said that the sign means "go there. There is enemy. Plz dont fly backwards"

That was nice!

Thanks. Very informative. Is there a publication that covers all of the unit insignia?

Fabulous

I’m in a kind of second or third phase of improving my modeling skills. When I first started I just slapped decals on wherever I thought they looked cool so I have a bf 109 I built when I was about 14-15 that has black double chevrons with a black horizontal bar but also has a white 12.silly me

This video makes me appreciate my books even more! (They aren't censored)

Thanks! .

Interesting that the senior officers were so clearly identified - wouldn't it make it easier to "shoot for the epaulets"?

Fascinating

Pretty cool

Question: why was Hans Joachim Marseille’s 109 “Yellow 14”, even after becoming Staffelkapitan of 3./JG27? Wouldn’t it have been repainted to be “Yellow 1” (or paint over the “4”)?

Would you be doing similar videos for other countries of ww2?

What is the ibex badge on the BF 109e -3 Messerschmitt

Am I correct in assuming these graphics were used mostly to make it easier to form and reform units in the air? And were these designations continued late into the war when units were being decimated in combat, making shuffling among units a constant necessity?

Considering that "Ordnung", or "Order", is like a national characteristic of Germany, I was surprised how messy was apparently the marking system for the wing commander. The emblems I can get, since - if I understand correctly - they weren't exactly official markings, and when you have so many people marking their affiliation, it's unavoidable that some will prioritize the wing, while others will prefer to denote their squadron, but the fact that the wing commander markings were so all over the place genuinely surprised me. Especially since it's not just variations of the same symbol, like single chevron + horizontal bar / horizontal arrow, but the combination of single/double chevron, vertical/horizontal bars, as well as some having a second bar behind the cross, while others don't, where all these seem to be a mix of markings from almost all other ranks, as well as from different organizational levels, seems very... uncharacteristic of the Germans. I would expect them to use a more unified system, like Jg command uses double chevron, Gruppe command uses single chevron, and then other symbology denotes individual ranks, and individual aircraft just use the numbering + pretty much the system you've described. Instead, the command ranks markings are an absolute mess, and I wonder if there was any reason for it.

Some Jagdgeschwader became notorious so that they had also very notorious identifying markers. JG 26, Schlageter, were so famous for their prowess, they were dubbed by the allies as the "yellow-nosed bastards" due to the yellow paint on the aircraft nose. This identifiyer was unique to JG 26.

Love it. Helps to decal my whole squadron of 109s. Also, got anymore of these lined up? I would kill for Japanese naval aircraft.

This is great! Is there a similar scenario for aircraft with letters? Some of my late war Me-262s have a red X while another has a white J on the side.

why are the swastikdas censored? do you do the same with the copmmie star?

What do you have about the Luftwaffe Bombers identification?

Subscribed.

As everything among Luftwaffe, there were so many exceptions, that this video can serve as a basic knowledge source. Nevertheless, it's a good quality video

Great video, great info, but my head is spinning. I think I'll stick to AFVs & leave the Luftwaffe to you.

This video needs a double like button :)

What does a vertical bar behind the cross mean? I was going through one of my old models and noticed that my tamiya fw190a3 had markings for 8/jg2, it made me abit curious because in the video there are plenty of horizontal bars behind the cross, but not a singular vertical one, that dident have a triangle next to it. If I paid enough attention

Excellent ! But i was already cofused before the end.

Interesting

Great video, 4000 likes says it all.

Great T-shirt 🤘

👍 Impressive 👍

From these exposition, the Stafell has 12 airplanes (1->12). But in the references I found airplanes marked with number highers than 12, for exame 21, 300, 18. How you understand this extra numerations?