:Waffenfarbe

The Bundeswehr uses a Waffenfarben color scheme to indicate troop types; they appear on the collar patch and as piping around the shoulder boards or straps showing a soldier's rank.

Colored soldiers' berets are slightly less differentiated than the Waffenfarben; in fact, corps or troop function is indicated by a beret badge.

File:HD W Kragenspiegel ABCAbw.svg|NBC

File:HD W Kragenspiegel Art.svg|Artillery

File:HD W Kragenspiegel FJg.svg|MP

File:HD W Kragenspiegel Fm.svg|Signals

File:HD W Kragenspiegel HAufkl.svg|Reconnaissance

File:HD W Kragenspiegel HFlg.svg|Army Aviation

File:HD W Kragenspiegel HLog.svg|Logistics

File:HD W Kragenspiegel Inf.svg|Infantry

File:HD W Kragenspiegel MilMus.svg|Military band

File:HD W Kragenspiegel Pz.svg|Armoured forces

File:HD W Kragenspiegel Pi.svg|Engineers

File:HD W Kragenspiegel San.svg|Medical troops

File:Luftwaffen Schiffchen.jpg)]]

The German Air Force uses a restricted color spectrum. While the air force normally uses golden yellow, officers "in the general staff service" (im Generalstabsdienst – there is no general staff as such in the Bundeswehr) wear wine-red, and generals bright red. The collar patches (Kragenspiegel) of generals and general staff service officers also differ from the normal air force design, as they are identical with the army ones.

The German Navy uses various emblems above the rank stripes on the sleeves rather than function-specific colors to distinguish between corps. It traditionally did not use Waffenfarben.

The Imperial German Army before 1915 did not have any defined use of Waffenfarben, except for cavalry. The Waffenfarben used in shoulder strap piping of the M1907/10 Feldrock was instead related to army corps, with exceptions to certain regiments due to seniority or distinctions.https://www.kaisersbunker.com/gtp/m10feldrock.htm

Branch of service was distinguished using colors on uniforms with the piping on the collars and cuffs of the uniform. This was only available in red (standard) for infantry, black for engineers and technical troops and green for Jägers. Other distinctions were made on the Feldmütze cap band.https://www.kaisersbunker.com/ht/farben/farben2.htm

In 1915 new regulations were introduced which simplified the earlier uniforms and introduced an early form of Waffenfarben for different services, however some regimental distinctions still remained.https://www.kaisersbunker.com/gtp/m15bluse.htm

{{Main|Corps colours of the German Army (1935–1945)|Corps colours of the Luftwaffe (1935–1945)}}

File:WMacht H OF10-1 Kragenspiegel Offiziere 1945.jpg/OKH (dress); 4, Motorcycle Rifles or Panzergrenadiers (dress); 5, Light Infantry (service, backing cloth is collar-colored, only innermost stripes are in Waffenfarbe)]]

File:WMacht H OFR8-1 Kragenspiegel Uffz und Mannschaften 1945.jpg

File:WMacht H OF5-1 Offiziere 1935-1945.jpg

File:Unteroffiziere.jpg

File:WMacht H OR4-1 Mannschaften02.jpg

In the German Heer and Luftwaffe, there was a strictly defined systematic of Waffenfarben on collar patches, and as uniform piping around the shoulder boards or shoulder straps. The Waffenfarben of the Reichswehr (1921 until c. 1935) were almost identical to those of the Wehrmacht.

{{Main|Corps colours (Waffen-SS)}}

{{Main|Corps colours (NPA)}}

East German (DDR) Nationale Volksarmee uniforms initially wore the Waffenfarben as worn by the Wehrmacht. Between 1974 and 1979, along with the introduction of uniforms with open collar and tie, the patches of the ground force uniforms were unified with a dark gray base and a white filling, along with a white collar piping; the piping of the shoulder boards/shoulder straps remained the only part carrying a Waffenfarbe. However, air/air defense forces, paratroopers, and generals as well as the navy continued to wear their specially designed Waffenfarbe patches.Klaus-Ulrich Keubke, Manfred Kunz: Uniformen der Nationalen Volksarmee der DDR 1956-1986. Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1990, p. 159, 175

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

The use of Waffenfarbe to distinguish between troop functions was not unique to the Wehrmacht during World War II. After 1942, the Soviet Army, too, used analogous shoulder boards to distinguish troop functions: ground forces general officers and infantry used crimson, cavalry used blue, artillery and tank troops used red, and the rest of the ground forces used black, while the air force and airborne troops used sky blue. Likewise the British Army utilized analogous strips of cloth on the sleeves to likewise identify troop functions.

Today, Waffenfarbe schemes are also used in Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Somalia and Switzerland. For a full list of analogous troop function insignia currently in use of the US Army, see United States Army branch insignia.

{{main|Waffenfarbe (Austria)}}

• Corps colours (Waffen-SS)
• Corps colours of the Sturmabteilung

• 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 not colorized)

• [http://www.alanhamby.com/ranks/rank.htm German WWII Army & SS Rank & Insignia]

Category:German military uniforms

Category:Military insignia

Category:Color in culture