Corps colours of the Luftwaffe (1935–1945)

Colonel in the General Staff of the 1941/1942. The photo shows the later Generalinspekteur of the Bundeswehr Heinz Trettner

Lw-General with lampasses in corps colour "white" 1934.

Corps colours, or troop-function colours (ge: Waffenfarben) were traditionally worn in the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, from 1935 until 1945. to distinguish between several branches, special services, corps, rank groups and appointments of the ministerial area, general staff, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, down to the military branches Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The corps colour was part of the uniform piping, gorget patches, shoulder straps, arabesque and lampasse ornaments of general and flag officers. It was also part of the heraldic flags, colours, standards and guidons.

In the Luftwaffe, there was a strictly defined system of corps colours for collar patches, piping and coloured edging around the shoulder boards or straps. The chevrons on special clothes for Luftwaffe soldiers, e.g. flight suits and jumpsuits, also showed corps colours.

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	Cops colour		Example			Remark
Generalfeldmarschall all general ranks from Generalmajor to Generaloberst	white (weiß)					Generaloberst
				lampasses (uniform trousers, breeches)
Division Hermann Göring Artillery troops and air defence	white (close patch)			deep-red (piping)	Unterwachtmeister
Anti-aircraft troops Air Force artillery	deep-red (tiefrot)					Feldwebel Pennon Flak (anti-aircraft) battalion
officers in general staff service (Generalstabsoffiziere)	carmine (karmesin)					Oberst i.G. (colonel in general staff service)
	gold-yellow (goldgelb)		lampasses (uniform trousers, breeches)
Military judicial service (Militärgerichtsbarkeit)	purple (purpur)					Stabsrichter
Field chaplains	purple (#C154C1)
Aviator engineer(ing) service (Fliegeringenieurdienst)	pink (rosa)					from Generalleutnant (engineer) OF7 to Leutnant (engineer) OF1a
Aviator troops: pilots and ground personnel Parachute troops	gold-yellow (goldgelb)					Oberfeldwebel flying units, battalions
RDAR units Air traffic control	bright-green (hellgrün)					Hauptgefreiter
Paratrooper (Fallschirmjäger)	hunter-green (Jägergrün)					troops standard airborne infantry battalion
universally to the Militärverwaltung of the Luftwaffe	dark-green (#00703E)					main color of the uniform gorget collar patches´backgraund
Transport units (Transporteinheiten) AF reserve (Luftwaffenreserve)	light-blue (hellblau)
AF medical corps (Sanitätstruppe)	blue (blau)					Stabsgefreiter
Air communications corps (Lufnachrichtentruppe)	saddle brown (braun)					Major corps standard communications battalion
construction engineer corps (Baupioniere) AF engineer corps (Luftwaffen-Pioniere)	black (schwarz)					Stabsfeldwebel

Particularity

Special regulations applied to corps colours of units, services, and special troops, attached permanently to the ground services of the Heer.

• Division Hermann Göring: Kragenspiegel and shoulder straps´ piping (de: Schulterklappenvorstoß) "white", collar patches´ piping (de: Kragenspiegelvotstoß) in corps colours:
  • white: (with black border line) to infantry,
  • scarlet: to artillery and anti aircraft defence (Flugabwehr),
  • golden-brown: to communications troops,
  • black: to engineer troops,
  • rose-pink: to armored troops, antitank troops (Panzerjäger) and armored reconnaissance (Panzeraufklärer).

• Air Force divisions: Collar patches´ main colour „green“, piping to collar patches and shoulder straps in corps colours:
  • yellow: to cyclists (Radfahrer) and reconnaissance (de: Aufklärer),
  • rose-pink: to antitank troops (Panzerjäger),
  • scarlet: to artillery and anti aircraft defence (Flugabwehr),
  • bright-blue: to Supply troops (Nachschubtruppe) and Administration troops (Verwaltungstruppe)
  • golden-brown: to communications troops,

See also main articles

• Corps colour
• Corps colours (Waffen-SS)
• Corps colours of the German Heer (1935–1945)
• Military ranks of the Luftwaffe (1935–45)
• World War II German Army ranks and insignia

References

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