WWII Armor Colors and Markings

Soviet Union

by Bill Rutherford

1939 - 1940

Soviet tanks used during the 1939 invasion of Poland seem to have been painted olive green overall and didn't appear to carry any markings. Those used during the 1939 - 1940 Russo-Finnish war were similarly colored. Early in 1940, the Soviets began to whitewash tanks in service against the Finns to camouflage them in snow conditions. During the 1940 occupation of the Baltic states, Soviet tanks carried large white crosses on their turret tops to aid in recognition by friendly aircraft.

Note: Red stars were not a common vehicle marking in the Soviet army for most of the war. Only in 1945 did red stars begin to appear in more than rare occasions.

1941 - 1942

Bland. Tanks were colored as during the 1939 - 1940 period, with two differences. Different types of air recognition markings began to be applied triangles, squares, stripes, and other shapes - and corps insignia came into use. These insignia consisted of outlined squares, triangles, diamonds, etc., containing numbers. They varied in size, typically running about 16 inches across.

Late in 1942, all but the diamond began to disappear, and this evolved into the corps markings that lasted for the rest of the war. The diamonds, containing identification numbers, were fairly standard and were generally either white or yellow. The numbering system was quite specific; for those of you gaming in the larger scales, see Zaloga and Grandsen (#10 in the bibliography) for further details of the system those of you using 1/200th or 1/285th scale tanks won't be able to read the markings, anyway...

Appearing during this period was the most famous Soviet tank marking, the slogan. Slogans might be political statements, troop sentiments, or even the names of famous Russians. In any event, they appeared in white or yellow on hull or turret sides in a wide number of styles and sizes. They were by no means universal, but were common enough to appear regularly in most photos of the period.

1943 - 1944

Camouflage! The 5th Guards Tank Corps had most of its tanks painted with swatches of brown prior to the 1943 Kursk offensive. Also, unit markings seem to come into use during late 1943. These weren't universal and were typically a simple device, such as an arrow or bar, or letter. They changed periodically, typically being issued for the duration of an offensive or campaign. These markings were typically white or yellow, though over snow camouflage, they appeared in red or black. Zaloga and Grandsen (#10 in the bibliography) describe and illustrate several examples.

Slogans and air recognition markings continued to be widely used. vehicle turret numbers began to appear towards the end of 1943, supplementing or replacing the tactical diamonds of 1942. These numbers, in white or yellow, varied from one digit up to four digits.

There were several numbering systems, ranging from simply consecutively numbering all of the tanks in a brigade, to complex vehicle/platoon/company schemes similar to that used by the Germans.

1945

Soviet equipment became a bit more colorful by 1945. Red stars began to appear occasionally (but by no means commonly) on tanks. Slogans (especially when liberating cities, etc.) were more widespread. Air recognition markings became even more important, as Soviet ground units were now encountering Allied aircraft. In April, Soviet tanks began to carry a relatively standard white cross atop the turret and a white band around it.

Serial numbers weren't generally used by the Soviets on most vehicles. Lendlease equipment from the US or Britain was generally left in its original colors, with Soviet markings applied as needed. Normally, American or British serial numbers, etc., were painted out before delivery, but vehicles did show up in the field with their USA numbers intact.

The only thing simpler than painting American equipment is painting Soviet equipment. Throughout the war, the basic overall color was olive green, whitewashed during winter. Other camouflage, except on certain rare occasions, simply wasn't used. Markings of the types noted above can be applied or omitted as desired. In the smaller scales, vehicle diamonds can be painted freehand or made up from a small bit of decal with a dot of olive green on it, and a dot of white on the olive green. Decals are generally available in the larger scales for vehicle diamonds. Slogans, fortunately, are also available as decals in all scales. So are turret numbers. Because of the variety of late-war vehicle numbering schemes, the most you can generally do is keep the turret numbers at four or less digits, and make them systematic within your units. Remember - the Soviets used very logical numbering systems; we're just not sure, in most cases, what those systems were.

More WWII Armor Colors and Markings Europe and North Africa

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