French Army Colours and Markings
This page was last updated on 24 February 1999
These are basic notes about model colours and a short section on tactical
and branch markings to complement Steven Zaloga's Blitzkrieg
which is both incomplete and mistaken in some respects since it relies
on rather old material.
Vehicle Camouflage Colours [
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The
main pre-war colour for French vehicles was a rather dark vert olive
mat (matt olive green) also designated vert olive réglementaire
(regulation olive green), vert olive armée (Army olive green)
and vert armée (Army green) although AFVs were camouflaged.
In wartime, camouflage was extended to all vehicles, although
the actual camouflage patterns were manufacturer-specific or left to the
unit's imagination if they were already in service or requisitioned civilian
vehicles. Wartime camouflage colours were vert olive mat (in a lighter
shade than the pre-war version), brun (brown, sometimes a very reddish
hue), ocre jaune (very light brown, ranging from sand to mustard
brown) and vert (a rather light green).
Actual hues are not known with any degree of precision since no official
document describing them in detail has yet been unearthed. There are very
few wartime colour pictures of French vehicles and those that exist are
rather poor. Above is one such picture, published in a German propaganda
magazine, showing a couple of Renault AMR 1935 in the vicinity of Dunkirk.
Although the film has marked reddish overtones which distort the colours,
it is a good illustration of the pattern worn by the AMRs.
These are suggested Humbrol matching paints for the French camouflage
colours found in various modelling magazines. Experiment and pick the one
you prefer. Note that apart from requisitioned civilian vehicles, vehicles
were factory camouflaged and as the result not only did each manufacturer
have its own pattern(s) but the paints used could be slightly different.
|
Alternative 1 |
Alternative 2 |
Alternative 3 |
| Green(s) |
H 150 Matt Forest Green |
H 179 French Artillery Green |
H 86 Matt Light Olive + H 81 Matt Pale Yellow + white |
| Brown |
|
H 177 Hull Red |
H 62 Matt Leather + H 29 Matt Dark Earth + white |
| Ocre Jaune |
H 94 Matt Brown Yellow |
|
H 94 Matt Brown Yellow + white |
The Aces Markings
In his otherwise excellent book Blitzkrieg : Armour Camouflage and
Markings, 1939-1940 Steven Zaloga makes a mistake regarding tank
tactical markings (the playing cards symbols seen on French tanks since
the First World War). He describes the WW1 system and then notes "due
to the differences in organization between 1918 and 1940, the first World
War symbols were seldom used in their complete form" on WW2 tanks,
which is not surprising since it was changed in November 1939 for modern
tanks (First World War vintage Renault FT 17 light tanks still carried
a variant of the old markings).
The new system used aces to identify the platoons or troops in the
bridge playing order (Spade, Heart, Diamond and Club) and the order of
the national colours (Blue, White and Red) to identify companies or squadrons
(see example on the right). The company or squadron commander's vehicle
was identified by displaying all four aces in the company or squadron colour.
These markings usually appeared on tank turret sides and were sometimes
repeated on the rear hull. When carried by Panhard 178 AMDs, they were
usually displayed on the hull sides. Smaller markings of this type were
sometimes used on other vehicles besides tanks and armoured cars
such as the sides of Dragons Portés 6x6 trucks or the 5e
BCP's Lorraine APCs and very rarely on artillery pieces.
The size and precise location of these markings (and the decision whether
to use them or not) were very much left up to the unit commander. The white
borders shown on the examples to the right were not universal, although
very common.
The coloured aces system was sometimes combined with the older
company designation system of white geometrical shapes (Circle, Square
and Triangle for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd companies respectively). This combination,
often using hollow geometrical shapes or using the geometrical shapes and
aces in separate locations, seems to have been more common on the Char
B1 bis than on the other tanks.
Other Tactical Markings
Large turret numbers were often found on cavalry tanks with several variations
of the actual numbering system. Numbers could be continuous within the
battalion, such as in the case of the DLMs where the regiments were identified
by their use of the numbers up to 49 in the first battalion and above for
the second, continuous within the squadron (e.g. 1-20 or 1-12) or by platoon
(e.g. 1-5, 10-14, 20-24, etc.).
Another common marking found on French tanks was a single letter identifying
the platoon. The actual letter, its size and style were left up to the
platoon commander who usually used the first letter of his last name. This
system seems to have been much more common on B1 bis infantry tanks than
on other vehicles.
Instead
of these three types of tactical markings, units sometimes used a system
of their own such as the 17e Bataillon de Chasseurs Portés
(BCP - Motorised Chasseurs Battalion). The mechanised infantry battalion
of the 2e Division Cuirassée de Réserve (DCR - Reserve
Armoured Division) used a unique "domino tile" marking on the side of its
Lorraine 38 L APCs' superstructure to indicate the vehicle's company and
platoon. However, I do not know which half of the tile identified the squadron
and which one the platoon. Photos of some of this unit's Lorraines show
an alternative system of large letters on the hull sides though.
Another
unique set of markings was used by the 2e DLM's 71e Régiment
d'Artillerie to identify its 75mm batteries. The system, illustrated
on the right, used coloured stars to identify each of the groupes (battalions)
with a letter.number combination to identify each of the batteries. These
markings were worn on the front doors of its Laffly S 15 T tractors.
A variant of this system seems to have been used by the 3e DLM's
76e Régiment d'Artillerie on its tractors. In this case however,
the individual batteries were identified by a coloured disc in the centre
of the stars, these discs following the same colour order, black, brown
and yellow, as the battalion stars.
In both cases, these tactical markings were combined with the artillery
and towing symbols (see Other Markings below),
both worn on the front left side of the cab.
National Markings
Although
relatively frequent on Cavalry armoured vehicles which operated far to
the front of friendly forces, the practice of painting national roundels
doesn't seem to have been the subject of any regulation. The usual locations
were turret tops (often on the commander's cupola) to serve as air recognition
markings and turret rear. A very narrow white outer ring was sometimes
added to the roundel but this practice was not very widespread.
The actual number, size (between 30 and 50 cm) and location of national
roundels depended very much on the size of the vehicle and the unit's amount
of experience with friendly fire. According to the high number of such
incidents, including between friendly armour, vehicle recognition does
not seem to have received much emphasis during training ! Some particularly
unlucky units soon sported these roundels on hull front and sides as well
as turret rear and top.
Besides the tactical markings, the most common markings were those indicating
the branch of the armed forces the vehicle belonged to. These markings
are totally ignored by Steven Zaloga's Blitzkrieg apart from
one caption where the cavalry symbol on an AMR 33 is mistakenly described
as a possible 2e DLM divisional marking (which admittedly did use a blue
diamond with a croix de Lorraine as its symbol).
An order issued on 11 January 1940, made it compulsory for all unarmoured
vehicles to display a 20 cm white square bearing a coloured geometric
shape indicating which service it belonged to. The shapes and colours were
as follows : Infantry 10 by 15 cm yellow rectangle, Cavalry 15 by 10 cm
blue diamond, Artillery 15 cm red triangle, Engineers 15 by 10 cm brown
oval, Supply and Transport (Train) 15 cm green circle and Air Force
15 cm orange six-point star.
This symbol was to be worn on the front left side of the vehicle (usually
the front left wing or mudguard or the the left side of the cab) and sometime
during the Spring it was added to the rear left side also. Motorcycles
were to have a smaller version painted on the front mudguard or on the
front of the sidecar when one was used.
These symbols were almost universally worn by soft vehicles by
May 1940. Tanks did not use them although at least some Cavalry
AMR and AMD displayed them.
Another
symbol often displayed was the towing sign, a yellow triangle on a dark
blue square panel of roughly the same size as the service markings above
(note that the white border on the example to the right is only added
to give better contrast against the page background colour). While
it is mentioned and correctly identified by a caption in Blitzkrieg,
it is shown upside-down in the colour plates. This symbol was to
be displayed, facing towards the front, by all vehicles while towing
a trailer or a gun and covered or removed when not towing. As a result,
this panel was very often seen on Renault UE supply carriers and all artillery
tractors. Note that this was not a purely military symbol but merely a
requirement of French road regulations.
Finally, it was decreed in early 1940 that a reflective surface in the
form of a white circle or horizontal rectangle be painted on the back of
trucks and lorries for station keeping during night convoys.
Below is another colour photograph published in the July 1940 issue of
Signal magazine. Again, the hues are rather distorted but this gives a
good general idea of the basic colours.
| Infantry |
Humbrol |
|
| Uniform |
H 26 Matt Khaki |
|
| Helmet |
H 116 Matt US Dark Green |
FS 34079 |
| Packs |
H 93 Matt Desert Yellow |
|
| Webbing |
H 84 Matt Mid Stone |
|
| Tank crewmen |
|
|
| Helmets |
H 117 Matt US Light Green |
FS 34102 |
| Leather jacket |
H 85 Coal Black |
|
Notes :
- FS numbers are given for the Humbrol paint rather than the actual
uniform colour.
- Tank crewmen type helmets were also worn by motorcycle troops and
anti-aircraft gun crews.
-
L'Automobile sous l'Uniforme, 1939-1940, François
VAUVILLIER & Jean-Michel TOURAINE, Paris : Massin, 1992. ISBN 2-7072-0197-9
-
Blitzkrieg : Armour Camouflage and Markings, 1939-1940, Steven
J. ZALOGA, London : Arms and Armour Press, 1980. ISBN 0-85368-334-4
-
Les Engins Blindés Français, 1920-1945 Vol.
1, Pierre TOUZIN, Paris : SERA 1976.
-
Sedan 1940, Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre,
Vincennes : SHAT, 1990.
-
Various issues of Steel Masters magazine