Corps colours, or Troop-function colours (German: Waffenfarben) were worn in the German Army (Heer) from 1935 until 1945 in order to distinguish between several branches, special services, corps, rank groups, and appointments of the ministerial area, the general staff, and the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW). The corps colours were part of the pipings, gorget patches, shoulder straps, as well as part of the arabesque and lampasse of any general officer and flag officer. It was also part of heraldic flags, colours, standards, and guidons.
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Transcription
Corps colours of the Heer
In the Heer there was a 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 identical 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 German Army from 1935–45.
| Troops, unit, appointment | Caps colour | Example | Remark | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Deep red (Hochrot) |
|
|
General der Waffengattung (arabesque and shoulder strap) | |
|
Standard of the artillery | ||||
|
Crimson (Karmesinrot) |
|
|
| |
| Field chaplains | Purple (#C154C1) |
N/A | 
|
||
| Bordeaux red (Bordo, bordeauxrot) |
|
|
| ||
|
White (White) |
|
|
| |
|
Rose-pink (Rosa)[1] |
|
|
| |
| Signals | Lemon-yellow (#FFEE00) |
|
|
| |
| Light-brown until 1937 | |||||
|
Golden-yellow (#F7B600) |
|
|
| |
|
Orange-yellow (#ff8000) |
|
|
| |
| Motorcycle infantry (Kradschützentruppe) | Copper-brown (#DA8A67) |
|
N/A | Oberleutnant | |
| Panzergrenadiertroops | Meadow-green (#60c000 from 1943) |
|
N/A | Oberst | |
|
Light green
(Hellgrün)[2] |
|
|
| |
|
Blue (#00AEEF) |
 
|
|
| |
| Military medical service (Sanitätstruppe) | Medical-blue (dark-blue) |
|
|
| |
|
Light-grey | 
|
N/A | Leutnant | |
| Construction troops (Bautruppen) | Light-brown until 1943 | 
|
|
| |
|
Black |
||||
| Main colour of the uniform | Field-grey | Equal uniform colour for the Waffen-SS and military administration | |||
Corps colours of the Heeresverwaltung
During World War II, officials of the “Army administration” (Heeresverwaltung, short HV), regardless of those serving in the Wehrmacht, war economy, or in military education facilities, etc., wore military rank insignias similar to those of the Wehrmacht.
Synoptic table and examples of Heer officials
Heer officials normally wore, in addition to their dark green main corps colour (Haupt-Waffenfarbe), a secondary colour (Nebenfarbe) denoting their branch. The Nebenfarbe was worn as piping surrounding the collar Litzen and underneath the shoulder boards on top of the dark green Waffenfarbe. In March 1940 distinct Nebenfarben were abolished and replaced with light grey.
The table below contains some corps colours and examples pertaining to military officials in uniform.
| Troops, assignment/appointment | Corps colour | Remark | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Militärverwaltung (universally) | Dark-green (#00703E) |
Main colour of the uniform gorget and collar patch background | |
|
Bright-red (Hochrot) (Red) |
Army administration (OF8 to OF6) | |
| Officials of the military judicial system | Corn flower blue (Kornblumenblau) | ||
|
Crimson (Karmesinrot) (#960018) |
||
| Officials of the remount service | Gold-yellow (Goldgelb) (#F7B600) |
||
| 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 engineers, geological service, ballistics, etc.) | Black (Schwarz) | ||
| Army officials of recruiting and replacement (Wehrersatzwesen) | Orange-red (Orange) (#ff8000) |
||
| Teaching staff (non-technical) at Heer academies (Lehrpersonal an Heeresschulen) | Light-brown (Hellbraun) | ||
| Officials of the "Reich´s court-martial" (Reichskriegsgericht) | Bordeaux red (#800032) |
||
See also
References
- ^ This colour derived from the Reichswehr motor-transport branch, which was used to camouflage the Weimar Republic'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.
Sources
- 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)
This page was last edited on 31 January 2024, at 14:21