"American tank markings" Topic

Did the Americans put division symbols (like t etriangular red/blue/yellow patch) on their tanks like the Germans did?

From what I have seen mostly not – some tankers certainly did put the triangular division patch on the side of their tanks but from the photos I have seen mostly white stars, serial numbers and the odd name or motto – and if a triangular division sign was used, it was on the side of the hull

That has no simple answer. Suggest you see a copy of Casemate's book "US Vehicle Markings 1944" by Jean Bouchery and Philippe Charbonnier. I got my copy as a kindle download on Amazon.

Page 28 deals with armored Diviaion markings. Remember, there were scads of independent Tank Battalions which could (and were) marked for within their own organizations so your question is too general to have a simple answer.

The referenced book is filled with great and detailed information including tables of organizations so you can better understand the meanings of the markings and where they were found on the different vehicles. Remember: If a vehicle was staged in the UK, there would be "Caution: Left hand drive" on the back of the wheeled vehicle!

The Armored and infantry divisional symbols could be found on the support vehicles such as 2 1/2 trucks, jeeps, half tracks, etc. even water trailers. More flexibility among tanks and TDs. I have seen pictures of both. Talked to a TD WW2 veteran a few years ago, who said that some TCs thought Germans used markings as aiming points for firing. Sounded reasonable at the time. He regards TDs as better than tanks. He was in Italy and his tank crew lost only one man, due to a mine, the entire 2 1/2 years there.

Rudi is right (Time Portal). Those big stars in a ring found in North Africa and Italy made great aiming points for AT guns and the use of colored panels for recognition from the air worked "safer". While the vehicle registration and serial numbers were retained (much smaller) the use of white, yellow and blue color markings became in vogue. We logistics types still needed to account for each vehicle as an individual entity so insisted they retain those markings for inventory and history tracking purposes. We (the services) are accountable to the taxpaying public for the money they spend on equipping the forces. Funny how the little things can have such a big impact on the overall picture.

The questions is about if the tanks used a copy of the shoulder patch insignia, and the answer is- generally no. You can find all manner of oddball insignia painted on vehicles, and some units had their own specific tactical markings, but very rarely did you see the three color triangle insignia.

as to the above-mentioned book on markings- there is a new edition by H+C, but sadly only in French. It is expanded and a few minor problems corrected. It's well done.

Except for the standard mumper markings, there was a great variation in vehicle insignia. The closer to the front line, the less of it you saw. Vehicle collectors want to paint as much stuff on their machines as possible, but on average less is more. Your best bet is to study photos of the specific unit you want to portray, especially of the time period you want to portray, and work from that.