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
deep red
(Hochrot)		         General der Waffengattung

(arabesque and shoulder strap)

Standard of the artillery
crimson
(karmesinrot)


  • Chef OKW until 1941
  • General Staff Corps Officers (Oberkommando)
General Staff Corps Officers (others)
  • Hufbeschlaglehrmeister (Farrier master instructor)
Field chaplains purple
(#C154C1)		 N/A
Chemical troops

Nebelwerfer

 bordeaux red
(bordo, bordeauxrot)
white
(white)
rose-pink
(rosa) [1]
  • Mannschaft
  • Troops standard
Signals lemon-yellow
(#FFEE00)
until 1937 light-brown
golden-yellow
(#F7B600)
orange-yellow
(#ff8000)
  • Leutnant
  • Company pennant
Motorcycle infantry (Kradschützentruppe) copper-brown
(#DA8A67)		 N/A Oberleutnant
Panzergrenadiertroops meadow-green
(#60c000 from 1943)		 N/A Oberst
  • Jäger (light infantry troops [hunters])
  • Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops [mountain hunters])
  • Skijäger (ski troops [ski hunters])
 light green[2]
(hellgrün)
  • Vehicle troops (Kraftfahrparktruppen)
  • Supply troop (Nachschubtruppe)
 blue
(#00AEEF)
Oberfeldwebel
  • Troops standard
Military medical service (Sanitätstruppe) medical-blue
(dark-blue)
  • War correspondents
  • Propaganda troops
 light-grey N/A Leutnant
Construction engineers (Baupioniere) until 1942 light-brown
  • 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), a secondary colour (de: 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.

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 Corps colour Example 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
 crimson (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

See also

References
  1. This colour derived from the Reichswehr motor-transport branch, which was used to camouflage Weimar's clandestine tank program
  2. 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)
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