Corps colours of the German Army (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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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deep red (Hochrot) |
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General... (arabesque and shoulder strap) | |
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Standard of the artillery | ||||
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crimson (karmesinrot) |
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| Field chaplains | purple (#C154C1) |
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| Chemical troops | bordeaux red (bordo, bordeauxrot) |
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| white (white) |
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rose-pink (rosa) [1] |
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| Signals | lemon-yellow (#FFEE00) |
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| until 1937 light-brown | |||||
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golden-yellow (#F7B600) |
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orange-yellow (#ff8000) |
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Company pennant | |
| Motorcycle infantry (Kradschützentruppe) | copper-brown (#DA8A67) |
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Oberleutnant | |
| Panzergrenadiertroops | meadow-green (#60c000 from 1943) |
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Oberst | |
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light green[2] (hellgrün) |
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blue (#00AEEF) |
 
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| Military medical service (Sanitätstruppe) | medical-blue (dark-blue) |
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arabesque medical generals OF6 to OF7 | |
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light-grey |
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| Construction engineers (Baupioniere) | until 1942 light-brown | 
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black |
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| 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 | Example | Remark | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| universally to the Militärverwaltung | dark-green (#00703E) |
main color of the
| |||
|
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 | |||
|
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) |
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| 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) |
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| 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 | |||
See also
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)