Aircraft marking explained

Aircraft markings are symbols and annotations painted on aircraft, primarily for visual identification. Types of aircraft markings include:

• Aircraft registration, unique alphanumeric string that identifies every aircraft
• Invasion stripes, alternating black and white bands painted on the fuselages and wings of World War II Allied aircraft, for the purpose of increased recognition by friendly forces
• Military aircraft insignia, applied to military aircraft to identify the nation or branch of military service
  • United Kingdom
    • Royal Air Force roundels, a circular identification mark used since 1915, United Kingdom
    • United Kingdom military aircraft registration number, the alpha-numeric registration used to identify individual military aircraft
  • Royal Canadian Air Force, roundels used from 1920–1945
  • Hungarian Air Force, a set of aligned triangles which points toward the front of the aircraft
  • Romanian Air Force#Aircraft markings, roundels on military vehicles and aircraft that use the colours of the Romanian flag
  • Serbian Air Force and Air Defence, an adapted version of the former Royal Yugoslav Air Force roundel that was officially adopted in 2006
  • South African Air Force, roundels adopted in 2002 that are distinct from the Army
  • United States:
    • United States military aircraft national insignia, a listing of the nationality markings used by military aircraft of the United States
    • United States military aircraft serials, the serial numbers used to identify individual military aircraft
    • USAAF unit identification aircraft markings, an identification code to identify the unit to which U.S. aircraft are assigned
    • Tail code, markings, usually on the vertical stabiliser of U.S. military aircraft, that help to identify the unit and base assignment
• Nose art, decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, often applied during conflicts
• Mission marks, monochrome stencil representations on the fuselage (typically adjacent to the cockpit) of individual ordinance items delivered during conflict by that specific aircraft
• List of air forces provides the markings used by each military organisation, with historical examples.

See also

• Aircraft livery, the full graphic treatment of aircraft, often for branding
  • Marking (disambiguation)