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
General officers Festungsbaupioniere, Waffenoffiziere und Feuerwerker Artillery corps Assault guns (Sturmgeschütze) Heavy Flak	deep red (Hochrot)			General der Waffengattung (arabesque and shoulder strap)
	deep red (Hochrot)			Standard of the artillery
Kriegsministerium (later Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) General Staff Corps Officers Veterinary service	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)			Unteroffizier (Fahnenjunker-Unterfeldwebel) Standard
Infantry Motorized Infantry	white (white)			Oberstleutnant Standard of the infantry
Panzertruppe previously Kraftfahrkampftruppe/Kraftfahrtruppen	rose-pink (rosa) ^[1]			Mannschaft Troops standard
Signals	lemon-yellow (#FFEE00)			Oberleutnant Troops standard
Signals	until 1937 light-brown			Oberleutnant Troops standard
Cavalry Armored reconnaissance units with cavalry traditions Reconnaissance	golden-yellow (#F7B600)			Hauptmann Troops standard
Military Police Recruiting and replacement (Wehrersatzwesen)	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)			Leutnant Troops standard
Vehicle troops (Kraftfahrparktruppen) Supply troop (Nachschubtruppe)	blue (#00AEEF)			Major Oberfeldwebel Troops standard
Military medical service (Sanitätstruppe)	medical-blue (dark-blue)			Feldunterarzt arabesque administrative generals OF6 to OF7
War correspondents Propaganda troops	light-grey		N/A	Leutnant
Construction engineers (Baupioniere)	until 1942 light-brown			Stabsfeldwebel Troops standard
Pioniere (Combat engineers) Assault engineers Armored engineers Fortress engineers Railway engineers	black			Stabsfeldwebel Troops standard
main color of the uniform	field-grey	equal uniform colour as the Waffen-SS and Military Administration

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, officials of the “Heer/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 those of the Wehrmacht.

Synoptic table and examples of Heer officials[]

Heer officials normally wore, 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	Remark
Militärverwaltung (universally)	dark-green (#00703E)	main color of the uniform gorget collar patch background
officials with general officer rank officials of Military Area administrations(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 on duty with the OKW or 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 engineers, geological service, ballistics, etc.)	black (schwarz)
army officials of Recruiting and replacement (Wehrersatzwesen)	orange-red (orange) (#ff8000)
teaching staff (non-technical) on Heer academies (Lehrpersonal an Heeresschulen)	light-brown (hellbraun)
officials on the "Reich´s court-martial" (Reichskriegsgericht)	bordeaux red (#800032)	images 1 to 9, file 2 below

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: Heer/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).

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)

[1] This colour derived from the Reichswehr motor-transport branch, which was used to camouflage Weimar's clandestine tank program

[Jaeger_green-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.

[3] On rank insignias of the German "Heeresverwaltung - HV" (en: Heer/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).

[1]

[2]