Corps colours (NPA)

Corps colours, or Troop-function colours, (German: "Waffenfarbe(n)") were worn by the National People's Army of the German Democratic Republic from 1956 to 1990.

Introduction

The GDR NPA uniforms initially bore the corps colours as worn by the Wehrmacht, i.e. as base and filling of the collar and sleeve patches, and as a piping around the shoulder boards/shoulder straps.

Between 1974 and 1979, alongside the introduction of uniforms with open collar and tie, patches of the NPA Landstreitkräfte uniforms were unified across all corps, with a  Steingrau base and a white filling, along with white collar piping; the piping of the shoulder boards/shoulder straps remained the only part carrying Waffenfarbe.

However, Air Forces of the National People's Army, paratroopers and generals as well as the Volksmarine continued to wear their specially designed and coloured patches.^[1]

The uniform of the Border Troops was distinguished from that of the NVA ground force and Air Force/Air Defence Force by a green armband with large silver letters identifying the wearer's affiliation, and a green cap band.

The tables below contain the corps colours used by the NPA since 1986.^[2])

Land Forces of the National People's Army

⇒ see main article Ranks of the National People's Army

Regiment or Battalion type	Colour	Insignias	Rank
General Officers, ground forces	Scarlet (Hochrot)		Colonel general
Motorized Infantry Reconnaissance	White		Gefreiter
Panzers	Rose-pink (Rosa)		Stabs-Oberfaehnrich
Engineers Chemical service Motor vehicle service Military transport service	Black		Feldwebel
Signals	Yellow		Oberleutnant
Supply Legal service Financial service	Dark green		Major
Military bands	White		Oberstleutnant
Paratroopers[3]	Orange		Oberfaehnrich
Rocket troops Artillery Rocket and weapon technical service Army air defence Mechanization and automation of command and control	Karmesine (Ziegelrot)		Captain
Construction soldiers	Olive
Steingrau (also: Feldgra)	Steingrau		basic colour of the uniform

Air Forces of the National People's Army

Regiment or Battalion type	Colour	Insignias	Rank	Remarks
General officers	Sky blue		Lieutenant general	Also Generals of the Air defense forces and of the Funktechnische Truppen
Air Force			Lieutenant	Officers and warrant officers (Fähnriche)
Air Force			Stabsgefreiter	Rank and file and sergeants
Air Defence Force[4]	Light grey			Including rank and file, sergeants, warrant officers (comp.) and officers

Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic

Border troop ratings	Colour	Insignias	Rank	Remarks
Generale	Green		Major general	Pipings, peaked cap stripe, collar patches, lampasses and stripes in green
Officers, warrant officers (comparable)			Warrant officer of the border troops	Pipings, peaked cap stripe, and stripes in green
Sergeants, rank and file			Unterfeldwebel	Pipings, peaked cap stripe, and stripes in green

Volksmarine

Volksmarine ratings	Colour	Insignias		Rank
Flag officers	Navy blue			Flottenadmiral to Konteradmiral
Officers				Kapitän zur See to Unterleutnant (zur See)
Warrant officers (comparable)				Stabsoberfähnrich to Fähnrich
Petty Officers				Stabsobermeister to Maat
Seamen				Stabsmatrose to Matrose

Civil defense of the GDR

Civil defense of the GDR

• Common (generals, as well): Malino (de:Himbeerrot, meaning the same as and similar in shade to English raspberry)

Other users

Waffenfarben were also worn by the troops of the Stasi, "Ministry for State Security", the Ministry of Internal Affairs with several branches of the police, fire brigades, etc.

See also

• Waffenfarbe
• Glossary of German military terms

References

1. Klaus-Ulrich Keubke, Manfred Kunz: Uniformen der Nationalen Volksarmee der DDR 1956-1986. Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1990, p. 159, 175
2. Keubke/Kunz, ibid. p. 267, 234 ff.
3. The collar patches of the paratroopers showed an open parachute above a wing.
4. Klaus-Ulrich Keubke, Manfred Kunz: Militärische Uniformen in der DDR 1949-1990. Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg/Berlin/Bonn 2009, p. 187 ff.