Aircraft markings are symbols and

annotation An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...

s painted on aircraft, primarily for identification. Types of aircraft markings include: *

Aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by Chicago Convention, international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and ...

, unique alphanumeric string that identifies every aircraft *

Invasion stripes Invasion stripes were alternating black and white bands painted on the fuselages and wings of Allied aircraft during World War II to reduce the chance that they would be attacked by friendly forces during and after the Normandy Landings. Thre ...

, 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 Military aircraft insignia are insignia applied to military aircraft to identify the nation or branch of military service to which the aircraft belong. Many insignia are in the form of a circular roundel or modified roundel; other shapes such as ...

, applied to military aircraft to identify the nation or branch of military service **

Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force ( hu, Magyar Légierő), is the air force branch of the Military of Hungary, Hungarian Defence Forces. The task of the current Hungarian Air Force is primarily defensive purposes. The flying units of the air force are or ...

, 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 **

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

, roundels used from 1920–1945 **

Royal Air Force roundels The air forces of the United Kingdom – the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, the Army's Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force use a roundel, a circular identification mark, painted on aircraft to identify them to other aircraft and ground forces. ...

, a circular identification mark used since 1915, United Kingdom **

Serbian Air Force and Air Defence The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence ( sr-Cyrl, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздухопловна одбрана Војске Србије, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Vojske Srbije, Wa ...

, an adapted version of the former Royal Yugoslav Air Force roundel that was officially adopted in 2006 **

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

, roundels adopted in 2002 that are distinct from the Army **

United Kingdom military aircraft serials United Kingdom military aircraft serial numbers are aircraft registration numbers used to identify individual military aircraft in the United Kingdom (UK). All UK military aircraft are allocated and display a unique registration number. A uni ...

, the serial numbers used to identify individual military aircraft ** United States: ***

United States military aircraft national insignia This is a listing of the nationality markings used by military aircraft of the United States, including those of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army and their predecessors. The Civil Air Patrol is also ...

, a listing of the nationality markings used by military aircraft of the United States ***

United States military aircraft serials In the United States, all military aircraft display a serial number to identify individual aircraft. These numbers are located on the aircraft tail, so they are sometimes referred to unofficially as "tail numbers". On the Northrop Grumman B-2 Sp ...

, the serial numbers used to identify individual military aircraft ***

USAAF unit identification aircraft markings USAAF unit identification aircraft markings, commonly called "tail markings" after their most frequent location, were numbers, letters, geometric symbols, and colors painted onto the tails (vertical stabilizer fins, rudders and horizontal surface ...

, an identification code to identify the unit to which U.S. aircraft are assigned *

Nose art Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, usually on the front fuselage. While begun for practical reasons of identifying friendly units, the practice evolved to express the individuality often constrained by ...

, decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft * Tail code, markings, usually on the vertical stabilizer of U.S. military aircraft, that help to identify the unit and base assignment *

List of air forces This alphabetically arranged list of air forces identifies the current and historical names and roundels for the military aviation arms of countries fielding an air component, whether an independent air forces, a naval aviation, or army aviation ...

provides the markings used by each military organization, with historical examples.

See also