Colours & Corps · 1935–1945

Wehrmacht Branch Colours: Heer, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS

A strip of coloured cloth under a shoulder strap is often the only thing in a photograph that tells you what a man actually did. This is the full table of Waffenfarben – 43 colours, what each one identified, and which ones are routinely mixed up.

Compiled by Dr Christian Hardinghaus, historian and media scholar

  • 17 Army
  • 13 Luftwaffe
  • 13 Waffen-SS
  • Every colour with its German name

Search by colour, by German term or by branch – kornblumenblau, engineers and #C8102E all work. The filters narrow the table to one service.

All 43 colours

The branch colours at a glance

Army first, then Luftwaffe, then Waffen-SS. Every entry carries its German name, because that is the term you will meet in a document. The HEX values are screen approximations, not historical standards.

WhiteWeiß

Army

Infantry

All foot infantry: Grenadier, Fusilier and Musketier regiments, motorised infantry, Landesschützen units and, until the reorganisation, light flak.

  • #FFFFFF
  • rgb(255, 255, 255)

Seen withInfantry Regiment 1 · Grenadier Regiment 18 · Landesschützen Battalion 405

ScarletHochrot

Army

Artillery

Field, heavy and assault artillery, plus the army's heavy flak. Generals wore the same scarlet with gold embroidery, which is why a scarlet underlay alone does not identify a gunner.

  • #C8102E
  • rgb(200, 16, 46)

Seen withArtillery Regiment 56 · Assault Gun Brigade 244

CrimsonKarmesinrot

Army

General Staff and veterinary service

Officers of the OKW and OKH and trained General Staff officers, who also wore crimson trouser stripes. The veterinary service used the same colour.

Two very different branches share this colour, which is a common source of misidentification.

  • #9B1B30
  • rgb(155, 27, 48)

Seen withArmy General Staff · Veterinary Company 12

Bordeaux RedBordeauxrot

Army

Smoke troops and legal service

Nebeltruppen, the chemical and rocket-launcher branch that operated the Nebelwerfer, and the army's judicial officials.

  • #6E1423
  • rgb(110, 20, 35)

Seen withWerfer Regiment 51 · Field court martial staff

Rose PinkRosa

Army

Panzer troops

Panzer regiments and anti-tank units; from 1942 also motor maintenance troops. Panzergrenadiers wore pink until 1943, then changed to meadow green.

  • #F2A0AE
  • rgb(242, 160, 174)

Seen withPanzer Regiment 1 · Panzerjäger Battalion 38

Lemon YellowZitronengelb

Army

Signals

Telephone and radio operators, signals intelligence and the staff signal units of every formation.

  • #F2E33C
  • rgb(242, 227, 60)

Seen withSignals Battalion 1 · Army Signals Regiment 501

Golden YellowGoldgelb

Army

Cavalry and reconnaissance

The traditional cavalry colour, carried over to divisional reconnaissance battalions when the mounted arm was reduced.

  • #E8B923
  • rgb(232, 185, 35)

Seen withCavalry Regiment 1 · Reconnaissance Battalion 1

OrangeOrange

Army

Field police and recruitment

Feldgendarmerie, the army's military police, and the recruitment and replacement service. Field police also wore a gorget and a sleeve band.

  • #E2761B
  • rgb(226, 118, 27)

Seen withFeldgendarmerie Battalion 683 · Wehrbezirkskommando staff

Copper BrownKupferbraun

Army

Motorcycle and armoured reconnaissance

Motorcycle rifle units and, from 1942, the armoured reconnaissance battalions that replaced the mounted role.

  • #A6603C
  • rgb(166, 96, 60)

Seen withMotorcycle Battalion 59 · Armoured Recon Battalion 4

Meadow GreenWiesengrün

Army

Panzergrenadiers

Introduced in 1943 to separate the armoured infantry of the Panzer divisions from the tank crews they rode with.

  • #7FB069
  • rgb(127, 176, 105)

Seen withPanzergrenadier Regiment 1 · Panzergrenadier Regiment 110

Light GreenHellgrün

Army

Jäger and mountain troops

Light infantry, mountain infantry and ski troops. A deeper, bluer green than the meadow green of the Panzergrenadiers, and easy to confuse with it in photographs.

  • #4E8A5C
  • rgb(78, 138, 92)

Seen with1st Mountain Division · Jäger Regiment 98

Light BlueHellblau

Army

Transport and supply

Drivers, motor transport columns and the supply services of divisions and corps.

  • #8FC0DC
  • rgb(143, 192, 220)

Seen withMotor Transport Battalion 56 · Supply Column 123

Cornflower BlueKornblumenblau

Army

Medical service

Medical officers, field hospitals, medical companies and stretcher bearers. A clear mid blue, not the dark navy often shown in colourised images.

  • #6495ED
  • rgb(100, 149, 237)

Seen withMedical Company 1/18 · Field Hospital 123

Light GreyHellgrau

Army

Propaganda troops

Propagandakompanien and war correspondents, who filmed, photographed and wrote for the Wehrmacht's own reporting service.

  • #C9C9C2
  • rgb(201, 201, 194)

Seen withPropaganda Company 612 · Propaganda Company 689

Light BrownHellbraun

Army

Construction troops

Construction battalions and instructional staff, until the branch was reorganised in 1943.

  • #B08A5A
  • rgb(176, 138, 90)

Seen withConstruction Battalion 41 · Army school staff

BlackSchwarz

Army

Engineers

Combat engineers, bridge-building and fortress engineers, railway engineers and technical troops.

  • #16181A
  • rgb(22, 24, 26)

Seen withEngineer Battalion 38 · Bridge Construction Battalion 51

PurpleViolett

Army

Chaplains

Military chaplains of both confessions, who held no rank but wore the purple as a service colour.

  • #6B3FA0
  • rgb(107, 63, 160)

Seen withDivisional chaplaincy

Golden YellowGoldgelb

Luftwaffe

Flying troops and paratroopers

Aircrew and the ground personnel of flying units, and the Fallschirmjäger. The single most common Luftwaffe colour.

  • #E8B923
  • rgb(232, 185, 35)

Seen withJG 52 · KG 55 · 1st Parachute Division

ScarletHochrot

Luftwaffe

Flak artillery

Heavy and light anti-aircraft batteries, searchlight units and the sound-ranging and listening service.

  • #C8102E
  • rgb(200, 16, 46)

Seen withFlak Regiment 1 · Heavy Flak Battalion 123

CarmineKarmesin

Luftwaffe

General staff

Officers serving on the Luftwaffe general staff.

  • #9B1B30
  • rgb(155, 27, 48)

Seen withLuftflotte staff · Air Corps staff

Rose PinkRosa

Luftwaffe

Engineering service

The aviation engineering service responsible for aircraft maintenance and technical inspection.

  • #F2A0AE
  • rgb(242, 160, 174)

Seen withAir Park · Technical Officer, JG 26

PurpleViolett

Luftwaffe

Judicial service and chaplains

Luftwaffe judge advocates and military chaplains.

  • #6B3FA0
  • rgb(107, 63, 160)

Seen withLuftwaffe field court · Air Fleet chaplaincy

Bright GreenHellgrün

Luftwaffe

Air reporting and radar

The Flugmeldedienst: radar stations, aircraft reporting and air traffic control.

  • #6FBF5E
  • rgb(111, 191, 94)

Seen withAir Reporting Regiment 201 · Würzburg radar site

Hunter GreenJägergrün

Luftwaffe

Field divisions

The Luftwaffen-Feld-Divisionen raised from surplus ground personnel in late 1942. When the divisions passed to army control in late 1943 they changed to white infantry piping.

  • #2F5D3A
  • rgb(47, 93, 58)

Seen with1st Luftwaffe Field Division · 21st Luftwaffe Field Division

Dark GreenDunkelgrün

Luftwaffe

Administration

Luftwaffe administrative officials, the Militärverwaltung branch.

  • #24402C
  • rgb(36, 64, 44)

Seen withAir District administration staff

BrownBraun

Luftwaffe

Air signals corps

The Luftnachrichtentruppe: radio, teleprinter and communications units.

  • #7A5230
  • rgb(122, 82, 48)

Seen withAir Signals Regiment 1 · Air Signals Battalion 353

Light BlueHellblau

Luftwaffe

Transport and reserve

Motor transport units and the Luftwaffe reserve formations.

  • #8FC0DC
  • rgb(143, 192, 220)

Seen withAir Transport Column 5

Medical BlueBlau

Luftwaffe

Medical corps

Luftwaffe medical officers and air ambulance units.

  • #3B5FA8
  • rgb(59, 95, 168)

Seen withAir Force Field Hospital 1

BlackSchwarz

Luftwaffe

Construction and engineers

Airfield construction, demolition parties and the technical engineer units.

  • #16181A
  • rgb(22, 24, 26)

Seen withAir Force Construction Battalion 1/VII

WhiteWeiß

Luftwaffe

General officers

General ranks from Generalmajor upwards, worn on the trouser stripes; also used by the Hermann Göring formations alongside scarlet.

  • #FFFFFF
  • rgb(255, 255, 255)

Seen withGeneralfeldmarschall's trouser lampasses

WhiteWeiß

Waffen-SS

Infantry and Panzergrenadiers

SS infantry and, unlike the army, the SS Panzergrenadier regiments, which kept white rather than changing to green.

  • #FFFFFF
  • rgb(255, 255, 255)

Seen withSS Panzergrenadier Regiment 1 (LSSAH)

ScarletHochrot

Waffen-SS

Artillery

SS artillery regiments, assault gun battalions and SS flak units.

  • #C8102E
  • rgb(200, 16, 46)

Seen withSS Artillery Regiment 1 · SS Flak Battalion 2

CrimsonKarmesinrot

Waffen-SS

Veterinary service

SS veterinary officers and the horse hospitals of the mounted and horse-drawn units.

  • #9B1B30
  • rgb(155, 27, 48)

Seen withSS Veterinary Company 8

Bordeaux RedBordeauxrot

Waffen-SS

Legal service

SS judge advocates and the SS judicial administration, which ran its own court system separate from the army's.

  • #6E1423
  • rgb(110, 20, 35)

Seen withSS und Polizeigericht

Rose PinkRosa

Waffen-SS

Panzer troops

SS Panzer regiments and SS anti-tank battalions.

  • #F2A0AE
  • rgb(242, 160, 174)

Seen withSS Panzer Regiment 1 (LSSAH) · SS Panzer Division "Das Reich"

Lemon YellowZitronengelb

Waffen-SS

Signals and war correspondents

SS signals battalions and the SS-Kriegsberichter units, which in the army wore light grey instead.

  • #F2E33C
  • rgb(242, 227, 60)

Seen withSS Signals Battalion 1 · SS-Standarte "Kurt Eggers"

Golden YellowGoldgelb

Waffen-SS

Cavalry and reconnaissance

SS cavalry and the armoured reconnaissance battalions of the SS divisions.

  • #E8B923
  • rgb(232, 185, 35)

Seen with8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer"

OrangeOrange

Waffen-SS

Field police and special services

SS-Feldgendarmerie and a group of specialist services carried under the same colour.

  • #E2761B
  • rgb(226, 118, 27)

Seen withSS Field Police Troop, 2nd SS Panzer Division

Meadow GreenWiesengrün

Waffen-SS

Mountain troops

SS mountain and Jäger formations.

Sources differ here: some tables give light green, as in the army, others meadow green.

  • #7FB069
  • rgb(127, 176, 105)

Seen with6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" · 7th SS Division "Prinz Eugen"

Light BlueHellblau

Waffen-SS

Supply

SS supply troops and motor transport units.

  • #8FC0DC
  • rgb(143, 192, 220)

Seen withSS Supply Battalion 1

Cornflower BlueKornblumenblau

Waffen-SS

Medical service

SS medical battalions and SS field hospitals.

  • #6495ED
  • rgb(100, 149, 237)

Seen withSS Medical Battalion 1

BlackSchwarz

Waffen-SS

Engineers

SS engineer battalions, assault engineers and demolition parties.

  • #16181A
  • rgb(22, 24, 26)

Seen withSS Engineer Battalion 1

Silver GreySilbergrau

Waffen-SS

General officers

SS general ranks from SS-Brigadeführer upwards.

  • #B9BCC0
  • rgb(185, 188, 192)

Seen withSS-Obergruppenführer's shoulder straps

How to use this table

  • The branch colour, the Waffenfarbe, sat on the shoulder-strap underlay and on the piping of collar patches, field caps and, for some branches, the trouser stripes. It said which arm a man belonged to, not what rank he held.
  • Several colours were shared by branches with nothing else in common. Crimson covered General Staff officers and veterinary officers; bordeaux red covered the smoke troops and the military courts. A colour alone is never an identification.
  • The system changed during the war. Panzergrenadiers went from pink to meadow green in 1943, the Luftwaffe field divisions gave up hunter green when they passed to army control, and construction troops lost light brown in the same period.
  • The Kriegsmarine stood outside this system and used career badges instead.
  • Read a photograph with the colour, the rank insignia, the unit numbering, the cut of the uniform and the date together. Any one of them on its own will mislead you.

Frequently asked questions

How do I read a branch colour in a black-and-white photograph?

Look at the shoulder straps first: the coloured cloth underlay runs around the rank insignia and is usually the clearest surface in the picture. In monochrome you are reading brightness, not hue, so white, lemon yellow and light grey all appear bright, scarlet and crimson mid-grey, black and bordeaux almost solid. That narrows the field but rarely settles it. Collar piping on the field blouse, the trouser stripes of generals and staff officers, and the unit numbering on the strap are what decide the case.

Why did the Panzer troops wear pink?

Not because pink was a cavalry colour. The traditional cavalry colour was golden yellow, and the mounted arm kept it. Rosa was assigned to the new armoured branch in the mid-1930s alongside the black Panzer uniform, and it also went to the anti-tank units. Panzergrenadiers wore pink until 1943 and then changed to meadow green, which is why the same regiment can appear with two different colours depending on the year.

Which colours are easy to confuse?

Four pairs cause most misidentifications. Scarlet and crimson: artillery and generals against General Staff and veterinary officers. Meadow green and light green: Panzergrenadiers against Jäger and mountain troops. Golden yellow and copper brown: cavalry and reconnaissance against motorcycle units. And cornflower blue for the medical service, which is often shown as a dark navy in colourised photographs and on reproduction items.

From when did the Waffen-SS use branch colours?

From 1938, on shoulder-strap piping and underlays and on collar patches, and the system stayed in use until 1945. It was modelled closely on the army's, with a few deliberate differences: SS war correspondents wore the lemon yellow of the signals branch rather than the army's light grey, and SS Panzergrenadiers kept white instead of changing to green in 1943.

Did the Kriegsmarine have branch colours too?

Not in this form. The navy identified a man's career and speciality through sleeve and shoulder devices — an anchor for the seaman branch, a cogwheel for engineers, a rod of Asclepius for medical officers — on a uniform that was dark blue or white rather than field grey. So a Kriegsmarine photograph is read through badges, not piping.

How exact are the HEX values on this page?

They are approximations for screen use, not historical standards. Wartime cloth varied by manufacturer, dye lot, year and material, and eighty years of light, sweat and storage have moved every surviving piece further. Treat the swatches as a way of telling colours apart on screen, and never as evidence about an individual item.

Compiled against the corps-colour tables for the Heer, the Luftwaffe and the Waffen-SS, and against the Handbook on German Military Forces (US War Department, TM-E 30-451, 1945). Reference material for education and research; corrections are welcome and this page is revised as they come in.