Waffenfarbe (Austria)
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Waffenfarbe(n), also Egalisierungsfarbe(n) (en: corps colours or egalisation colours | i.e. colours to, on, or/and of service uniforms) are colors that communicate the rank and arm of service for members of the Federal Army of the Republic of Austria (de: Bundesheer der Republik Österreich) and the police. They are also referred to as Kragenspiegel (en: collar patches or gorget patches).
History[]
In 1920/21 the Austrian Federal Army of the First Republic adopted German Reichswehr uniforms along with the corps colours. Two colours were changed during the transition: the Austrian infantry assumed a grass-green colour and the Austrian hunter troops adopted yellow-green (German colours were white for the infantry and hunter-green for the hunter troops). A new uniform was introduced in 1933 modeled on those worn by the Austro-Hungarian Land forces from 1867–1914. The so-called k.u.k. "Adjustierungsvorschrift" (en: service dress instruction) contains the colour pattern tables from the year 1912 and regulated the Egalisierungsfarben to be worn.
Synoptic table and examples[]
The table below contains some corps colours as used by the Austrian Federal Army.
| Troops, unit, appointment | Corps colour | Example (Paroli) |
 Ranks |
Remark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guards | scharlachrot mit weißem Vorstoß (en: scarlet(-red) with white edging strip) |
|
OR-8[1] | Oberstabswachtmeister | |
|
gelbgün (yellow-green) | 
|
OR-3 | Korporal | |
| Jäger (rifleman) |
grasgrün (meadow green) | 
|
OF-1a | Oberleutnant | |
|
schwarz (black) | 
|
OF-1b | Leutnant | |
| Aufklärer (reconnaissance) |
gelb (yellow) | 
|
OR-7 | Stabswachtmeister | |
| Theresian Military Academy | rot (red) |
|
OF-D | Fähnrich | |
|
|
OR-9 | Offizierstellvertreter | ||
| Engineer troops | stahlgrün (steel green) |
|
OR-4 | Zugsführer | |
| NBC-Defence | hechtgrau (pike grey) |
|
OR-2 | Gefreiter | |
| Communicators | rostbraun (rust brown) |
|
OR-9 | Vizeleutnant | |
| Aviators (e.g. pilots) |
violett (violet) |
|
OR-5 | Wachtmeister | |
| Technical service | braun (brown) |
|
OF-2 | Hauptmann | |
| Higher mil. technical service | braun mit rotem Vorstoß (en: brown with red edging strip) |
N/A | |||
| Higher mil. expert service | rot-blau (en: red blue) |
|
OF-3 | Major | |
| General staff service | red-black | N/A | |||
| Intendance service | green deep-red | N/A | |||
| Logistic | deep-blue | N/A | |||
| Mil. medical service (human medicine) | blue black | 
|
OF-3 | ||
| Mil. medical service (veterinary medicine) | deep-red black | 
|
OF-5 | Oberstveterinär | |
| Mil. medical service (pharmacology) | lilac black | N/A | |||
| Medical service | sky blue | 
|
OR-6 | Oberwachtmeister | |
| Wirtschaftsdienst (support service) |
light blue (index #007BA7) |
|
OF-4 | Oberstleutnant | |
| General officers | gold (colour) | 
|
OF-9 | General rank insignia on peaked cap left | |
| basic colours of the uniforms |
|
|
OR-2 | Gefreiter | |
- See also main article
- Ranks of the Austrian Bundesheer
Synoptic table and examples to beret colours[]
One of the features of person in uniform of the Austrian Bundesheer is the beret. Normally, it will be worn to the dress uniform or on special occasions to the field suit. Exempted are only members of the Air Force and the Gebirgsjäger (en: mountain infantry) with an own headgear. The colour of the particular beret corresponds to the appropriate branch of service and/or the particular unit or formation. The colour of the Bundesadler (en: federal eagle) and the eagle double-wing on berets is as follows:
- grey metallic - recruits and charges (OR-1 to OR-4)
- silver - NCOs (OR-5 to OR-9)
- gold - officers (OR-1 to OF-5)
- gold on red background - general officers (OF-6 to OF-9)
| Troops, unit, appointment | Caps colour | Example | Remark, mainly use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
jaegergreun (rifleman-green) |
| ||
|
schwarz (black) | members of the armored corps, most members of the 3rd - and 4th Mechanized infantry brigade. The image shows an armored officer's beret with golden federal eagle | ||
| Garde (guards) | scharlachrot (scarlet-red) | members of the Guards battalion | ||
| Red beret | rot (red) | members of 25th Jaegerbataillon in Klagenfurt. | ||
| Coral-red beret | Korallrot (coral-red) | members of the military patrols and military police | ||
| Rusty-brown beret | Rostbaraun (rusty-brown) | members of the combat support troops | ||
| Pike-grey beret | Hechtgrau (pike-grez) | members of the NBC-defence school and the "Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit" | ||
| Dark-blue beret | Dunkelblau (dark-blue) | members of the Army logistics school, Combat support command (with all subordinate elements), and the Military medical centre | ||
| Yellow-green beret | Gelbgruen (yellow-green) | Federal army top-performance athletes (de: Bundesheer-Leistungssportler) of the Army sports centre (de: Heeres-Sportzentrum) | ||
| Olive-green beret (with federal eagle) |
Olivegruen (olive-green) |
members of the Skirmishing command (basic level – characterised by the federal eagle) | ||
| Olive-green beret (with Skirmishing patrol badge) |
members of the Skirmishing command that passed the basic Skirmishing command trainings course (advanced level – the federal eagle is replaced by the Skirmishing command badge) | |||
| Blue UN-beret | UN-blue | soldiers on duty to -, contract of -, or by order of the United Nations. | ||
Federal Police[]
The Bundespolizei uses corps colours on the so-called distingtion (en: rank insignia) and peaked cap (de: Tellerkappe):
- usually and police paspore: Krapprot
- higher service (police legal advisor and public health official): Bordeauxviolett (bordeaux red)
K.u.k. Egalisation colours[]
The so-called "Adjustierungsvorschrift" (en: service dress instruction) contains the colour pattern tables from the year 1912. The name ″Egalisierung″ consists of uniform colour at the one hand, and corps colour, egalisation colour (de: Waffenfarbe) or badge colour at the other hand. The system was extremely complicated and was called by slang Farbkastel (en: paint box). Ultimately, in the k.u.k. common army it was very difficult to distinguish the 102 infantry regiments from Hussars, Lancers or Dragoons, as well as services, service branches, special services, appointments, etc.
- Farbkastel (egalisation colours) of the k.u.k. armed forces
table 1
table 2
table 3
table 4
table 5
table 6
- See also
See also[]
- Wehrmacht ranks and insignia
- Corps colours of the German Army (1935–1945)
- Corps colours of the Luftwaffe (1935–1945) – Overview article
- Corps colours (Waffen-SS)
- Ranks of the Austrian Bundesheer
- Waffenfarbe – Visual method used by the armed forces of Germany
- Adjustierung – Service dress of the Austrian army
References[]
- ^ The abbreviation "OR" stands for "Other Ranks / fr: sous-officiers et militaires du rang / ru:другие ранги, кроме офицероф"
- 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)
Sources[]
- Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlifhen Museums in Wien Das k.u.k. Heer im Jahre 1895 Edition Leopold Stocker Graz 1997 ISBN 3-7020-0783-0
- Rest,Ortner,Illming Des Kaisers Rock im 1. Weltkrieg Edition Militaria Vienna 2002 ISBN 3-9501642-0-0
- Military insignia
- Austro-Hungarian Army
- Military ranks of Austria
- Military of Austria-Hungary