Corps colours of the Heer (1935–1945)

Corps colours, or Troop-function colours (ge: "Waffenfarbe(n)") were traditional worn in the German Wehrmacht from 1935 until 1945 as discrimination criteria between several branches, special services, corps, rank groups and appointments of the ministerial area, general staff, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, up to the military branches Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The corps colour was part of the piping, uniform gorget, shoulder strap, as well as part of the arabesque and lampasse of any general officer and flag officers. It was also part of heraldic flags, colours, standards and guidons.

Corps colours of the Heer

In the German Heer there was strictly defined systematic of corps colours on collar patchs, uniform piping and coloured edging around the shoulder boards or shoulder straps. The corps colours of the Reichswehr (1921 until ca. 1935) were almost identically to these of the Wehrmacht.

Synoptic table and examples to military persons in uniform

The table below contains some corps colours and examples used by the Heer from 1935–45.

Troops, unit, appointment	Caps colour	Example	Remark
General officers Festungsbaupioniere, Waffenoffiziere und Feuerwerker Artillery corps Assault guns (Sturmgeschütze) Heavy Flak	deep red (Hochrot)		General... (arabesque and shoulder strap)
	deep red (Hochrot)		Standard of the artillery
Kriegsministerium (later Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) General Staff Corps Officers Veterinary service	crimson (karmesinrot)		Chef OKW until 1941 General Staff Corps Officers (Oberkommando) General Staff Corps Officers (others) Hufbeschlaglehrmeister (Farrier master instructor)
Field chaplains	purple (#C154C1)
Chemical troops Nebelwerfers	bordeaux red (bordo, bordeauxrot)		Oberfähnrich Standard
Infantry Motorized Infantry	white (white)		Leutnant Standard of the infantry
Panzertruppe bevore Kraftfahrkampftruppe/Kraftfahrtruppen	rose-pink (rosa) ^[1]		Panzerkampfabzeichen Troops standard
Signals	lemon-yellow (#FFEE00)		Oberleutnant Troops standard
Signals	until 1937 light-brown		Oberleutnant Troops standard
Cavalry Armored reconnaissance units with cavalry traditions Reconnaissance	golden-yellow (#F7B600)		Hauptmann Troops standard
Military Police Recruiting and replacement (Wehrersatzwesen)	orange-yellow (#ff8000)		Company pennant
Motorcycle infantry (Kradschützentruppe)	copper-brown (#DA8A67)		Oberleutnant
Panzergrenadiertroops	meadow-green (#60c000 from 1943)		Oberst
Jäger (light infantry troops [hunters]) Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops [mountain hunters]) Skijäger (ski troops [ski hunters])	light green^[2] (hellgrün)		Leutnant Troops standard
Vehicle troops (Kraftfahrparktruppen) Supply troop (Nachschubtruppe)	blue (#00AEEF)		Major Oberfeldwebel Troops standard
Military medical service (Sanitätstruppe)	medical-blue (dark-blue)		arabesque medical generals OF6 to OF7
War correspondents Propaganda troops	light-grey
Construction engineers (Baupioniere)	until 1942 light-brown		Gorget patches (Officers OF1-5, dress jacket) Troops standard
Pioniere (Combat engineers) Assault engineers Armored engineers Fortress engineers Railway engineers	black
main color of the uniform	field-grey	equal uniform colour as to Waffen-SS and Militärverwaltung

Remark

Corps colours of the Wehrmacht according to the order of the Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht from October 14, 1942, here a selection only.

Corps colours of the Heeresverwaltung

During World War II, Nazi Germany officials of the “Heere´s/Army administration” (de: Heeresverwaltung, short HV), regardless serving in the Wehrmacht, war economy, or in military education facilities, etc., wore military rank insignias similar to these of the Wehrmacht.

Synoptic table and examples to Heere´s officials

Heere´s officials wore normally in addition to their dark green main corps colour (de: Haupt-Waffenfarbe) dark-green a secondary colour (de: Nebenfarbe) denoting their branch. However, in March 1940 distinct Nebenfarben were abolished and replaced with light grey.

See also

⇒ main article Militärverwaltung (Nazi Germany)

The table below contains some corps colours and examples pertaining to military officials in uniform.

Troops, assignment/ appointment	Cops colour	Remark
universally to the Militärverwaltung	dark-green (#00703E)	main color of the uniform gorget collar patches´backgraund
officials with general officer rank officials of the administration of the Military Area (Wehrkreis)	bright-red (hochrot) (red)	administration Army/Heer (OF8 to OF6) image 1-3, file 1 below
officials of the military judicial system	corn flower blue (kornblumenblau)	shoulder strap image 4, file 1 below
officials in headquarters or staff appointments/assignments officials of all branches on duty with the OKW and OKH	carmine (karmesinrot) (#960018)	image 5, file 1 below
officials of the remount service	gold-yellow (goldgelb) (#F7B600)	image 6, file 1 below
officials of standard branches, e.g. paymaster service (Zahlmeisterwesen)	white (weiß) (white)
army officials of pharmaceutics	light-green (hellgrün)
officials of the technical services (fortress engineer, geological service, ballistics, etc.)	black (schwarz)
army officials of Recruiting and replacement (Wehrersatzwesen)	orange-red (orange) (#ff8000)
teaching staff (non-technical) on Heeres´academies (Lehrpersonal an Heertesschulen)	light-brown (hellbraun)
officials on the "Reich´s court-martial" (Reichskriegsgericht)	bordeaux red (#800032)	images 1 to 9, file 2 below

Rank insignias to officials of the "Heeresverwaltung - HV"^[3]

General officer ranks (1 to 3) and Officer ranks (4 to 6)

main corps color on shoulder straps

File 2: Rank insignias to officials on the "Reich´s court-martial" (Reichskriegsgericht)

General officer ranks (1-2), Officer ranks (3 to 7), and Warrant officer ranks (8-9)

Shoulder straps 1935 until 1945

References

↑ This colour derived from the Reichswehr motor-transport branch, which was used to camouflage Weimar's clandestine tank program
↑ Due to an error in U.S. War Department TM-E 30-451: Handbook on German Military Forces, many English-language sources have Jäger Hellgrün and the Wiesengrün of the Panzergrenadiers reversed. The Jäger colour was the darker, bluer one.
↑ On rank insignias of the German "Heeresverwaltung - HV" (en: Heere´s/Army administration) the metallic HV-letters (de: HV abbreviation to "Heeresverwaltung") were replaced by the Reichsadler with Swastika, to indicate the membership of the German Military administration authority (de: Militärverwaltung).

Glossary of German military terms
Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia: Die deutsche Wehrmacht, Uniformierung und Ausrüstung 1933-1945
Vol. 1: Das Heer (ISBN 3613013908), Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1992
Vol. 3: Die Luftwaffe (ISBN 3-613-02001-7), Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1999
(very detailed information and discussion but no coloured images)

Ranks, uniforms and insignia of Nazi Germany

Uniforms	Wehrmacht: Luftwaffe Kriegsmarine Afrika Korps SS SA

Ranks and insignia	Comparative ranks of Nazi Germany Wehrmacht: Luftwaffe Waffen-SS (see also Runic insignia) Paramilitary ranks: NSDAP SA NSFK NSKK Ordnungspolizei Volkssturm Organisation Todt HJ

Corps colour	Waffenfarbe Heer Luftwaffe Waffen-SS SA

Decorations and Medals	List of military decorations of the Third Reich

Flags	Luftwaffe RLB (German) HJ (German)

Explanations: HJ – Hitlerjugend NSDAP – Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei NSFK – Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps NSKK – Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps RLB – Reichsluftschutzbund SA – Sturmabteilung SS – Schutzstaffel

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Corps colours of the Heer (1935–1945)